J& 






DR. E. D. BARBER. 



OSTEOPATHY 



The New Science of Healing. 



30 



liW* 



PRESS OF 

HUDSON-KIMBERLY PUBLISHING CO. 

KANSAS CITY, MO. 






Copyright, 1896, 
by 
Dr. IC. D. Barber. Qj^ 



&&ik< j 




INDEX. 



Asthma, Symptoms of 24 

Asthma, Cause of 24 

Asthma Treatment 27 

Abscess, Symptoms of 147 

Abscess Treatment 148 

Atrophy, Cause of 52 

Breasts, Gathered 167 

Backache 148 

Bronchitis, Symptoms of 35 

Bronchitis Treatment 35 

Bloody Flux, Symptoms of 55 

Bloody Flux, Cause of 56 

Bloody Flux Treatment 61 

Brain Fever, Symptoms of 100 

Brain Fever, Cause of 101 

Brain Fever Treatment 102 

Biliousness, Symptoms of 149 

Biliousness, Treatment for 149 

Baldness. 149 

Bright' s Disease, Symptoms of.. 74 
Bright' s Disease Treatment for.. 76 

Circulation of the Blood 22 

Consumption, Symptoms of 31 

Consumption, Cause of 31 

Consumption Treatment 32 

Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis, Symp- 
toms of 44 

Cerebro-Spmal Meningitis Treat- 
ment 45 

Coughs 28 

Colds 28 

Cholera Morbus, Symptoms of.. 56 

Cholera Morbus, Cause of 56 

Cholera Morbus Treatment 61 

Cramp in theBowels, Cause of... 62 
Cramp in the Bowels, Treatment 

for 62 

Cramp in the Stomach, Treat- 
ment for 65 

Chronic Diarrhea, Symptoms of. 65 
Chronic Diarrhea, Treatment for. 65 

Chronic Gout 152 

Constipation, Symptoms of 66 

Constipation, Cause of 67 

Constipation Treatment 69 

Congestive Chills, Symptoms of. 99 
Congestive Chills, Treatment for. 100 

Catarrh 113, 134, 138, 139 

Catarrhal Deafness 134, 139 

Canker of the Mouth 150 

Crick in the Neck 150 

Convulsions 152 

Cramp in the Legs 153 

Colic 154 

Change of Life 164 

Difficult Breathing 28 

Diphtheria, Symptoms of 36 

Diphtheria, Cause of 39 

Diphtheria, Treatment for 39 

Dysentery 55 

Digestion, Process of 57 

Dyspepsia 73 

Dropsy, Symptoms of 94 

Dropsy, Cause of 95 

Dropsy, Treatment for 96 



Dripping Eyes 138 

Dizziness 151 

Diseases of the Head 134 

Eczema, Symptoms of 126 

Eczema, Treatment for 126 

Erysipelas of the Face 134 

Erysipelas of the Face, Symp- 
toms of 141 

Erysipelas of the Face, Treat- 
ment for 141 

Earache 150 

Eyes, Dripping 134, 138 

Fever and Ague, Symptoms of.. 99 
Fever and Ague, Treatment for.. 100 

Fevers 112 

Fistula, Treatment for 145 

Feet, Cold 148 

Feet, Hot 148 

Feet, Aching 148 

Fits 152 

Fainting 155 

General Treatment of the Spine. 32 

General Treatment 93 

General Debility 97 

General Debility, Treatment for. 97 
General Treatment of the Neck.. 134 

Granulated Eyelids 134, 137 

Goitre, Symptoms of 130 

Goitre, Treatment for 133 

Gout, Chronic 152 

Heart Disease 80 

Heart Disease, Treatment for 86 

Heart, Feeble Action of 92 

Hart, Enlargement of the 91 

Heart, Enlargement of the, Treat- 
ment for 91 

Headache, Treatment for 107 

Headache, Nervous, Treatment 

for 108 

Headache, Sick, Cause of 108 

Headache, Sick, Treatment for.. 108 

Hiccough 112 

Hay Fever 113 

Hoarseness 152 

Hip Disease 152 

Indigestion, Symptoms and Cause 

of 73 

Indigestion, Treatment for 74 

Inflammation of the Kidneys 74 

Inflammation of the Kidneys, 

Treatment for 76 

Inflammation of the Eyes... 134, 137 
Inflammation of the Eyes, Treat- 
ment for... 137 

KidnevDisease 74 

Lame Back, Treatment for 122 

Leucorrhea 164 

Menstruation, Suppressed 163 

Man as a Machine 21 

Membraneous Croup, Symptoms 

of 40 

Membraneous Croup, Treatment 

for 40 

Mumps 134, 140 

Milk Leg 148 



INDEX. 



Nursing Sore Mouth 43 

Neuralgia, Symptoms of 144 

Neuralgia, Treatment for 144 

Osteopathy in a Nutshell 15 

Osteopathy, How to Apply 18 

Obstetrics 168 

Pimples 151 

Pl*6-faCe . 9 

Putrid Sore' Throat '.V///.'.... ....'.'. 43 

Palsy 46 

Paralysis, Symptoms of 46 

Paralysis, Cause of 46 

Paralysis, How to Make the Ex- 
amination in 48 

Paralysis, Treatment for 48 

Polypus of the Nose 134, 139 

Pneumonia, Symptoms of 143 

Pneumonia, Treatment for 143 

Piles 146 

Pleurisy 28 

Reasearches of E. D. Barber... 11 
Rheumatism, Acute, Symptoms 

of ..113 

Rheumatism, Acute, Treatment 

for 117 

Rheumatism, Chronic, Symptoms 

of 114 

Rheumatism, Chronic, Cause of. 114 
Rheumatism, Chronic, Treatment 

for 117 

Rheumatism, Inflammatory, 

Cause of 114 

Rheumatism, Inflammatory, 

Treatment for 117 

Rheumatism in the Arms 118 

Rheumatism of the Entire Sys- 
tem, Treatment for 121 

Rheumatism, Sciatic 122 



Roaring in the Head 134-139 

Spleen, Enlargement of the 79 

Spleen, Enlargement of the, 

Treatment for 80 

St. Vitus's Dance 144 

Skeleton 21, 169 

Tracing a Dose of Medicine on 
its Journey to an Affected 

Part 115 

Tonsils, Enlargement of the.. 134, 141 

Torpid Liver 66 

The Thyroid Gland 130 

The Nervous System 47 

The Liver 68 

The Kidneys 75 

The Spleen 79 

The Diaphragm Ill 

The Arteries 22, 84 

The Veins 22, 84, 95 

The Nerves 23 

The Heart 83 

The Capillaries 84 

The Brain 100 

The Fallopian Tubes 156 

The Uterus 155 

The Ovaries 156 

Tumors, Fleshy 133 

Uterus, Displacements of the 157 

Uterus, Prolapsus of the 157 

Uterus, Anteversion , 158 

Uterus, Treatment for 160 

Varicose Veins, Symptoms of 126 

Varicose Veins, Treatment for... 126 

Vomiting 65 

White Swelling, Symptoms of — 152 
White Swelling, Treatment for.. 153 
Whooping-Cough, Symptoms of.. 142 
Whooping-Cough, Treatment for. 142 



ERRATA. 



On pages 96, 97, and 100, for "general treatment (page 
32)" read "general treatment (page 93)." 



EXPLANATORY. 

Aponeurosis — A fibrous expansion of a tendon. 

Conjunctiva — Mucous membrane of the eye. 

Bifurcation — Dividing into two branches. 

PouparVs Ligament — Ligament in upper part of thigh. 

Areola — A ring-like discoloration. 

Arteriole — A small artery. 

Radicle — A rootlet. 

Sterno-clavicular Articulation — Articulation of the clavicle 

(collar-bone) and sternum (breast-bone). 
Aperients — Substances having power to open passages. 
Protoplasm — Primitive organic cell matter. 
Urea — Chief solid constituent of the urine. 
Uric Acid — Acid normally found in urine. 
Bile — Yellow bitter liquid secreted by the liver. 
Ileocecal Valve — Valve between the ileum and caecum. 
Crest of the Ileum — Upper free margin of the ileum. 
Diaphragm — Muscular wall between the thorax and abdomen. 
Tuberculosis — Infectious disease due to specific bacillus. 
Hemiplegia — Paralysis of one side of the body. 
Paralgia — Disordered sense of pain in a part. 
Encephalon — The brain. 
Foramina — Openings in the bones for passage of vessels and 

nerves. 
Esophagus — Canal leading from the larynx to the stomach. 
Chyme — Food that has undergone gastric, but not intestinal, 

digestion. 
Pharynx — Musculo-membraneous sac behind the mouth. 
Larynx — Upper part of windpipe. 
Pyloric Orifice — Opening in pyloric end of stomach. 
Duodenum — First part of the small intestine. 



8 OSTEOPATHY. 

Thyroid Cartilage — Largest laryngeal cartilage. 
Tendon — White fibrous tissue, attachment of the muscles. 
Peripheral Nerves — Peripheral, pertaining to the circumfer- 
ence or boundary line. 
Ligament — A band of fibrous tissue binding parts together. 
Cartilaginous — Pertaining to cartilage — viz., gristle. 
Pleura — Serous membrane enveloping the lungs. 



PREFACE. 

By an examination of the literature of the world, it will be 
found that the subject of Osteopathy has never yet been 
placed before the public in book form. Its fundamental 
principles were discovered by Dr. Andrew T. Still, and a 
class established by him, of which the author is a graduate. 

Knowing that Osteopathy is destined to revolutionize 
the medical world, and realizing that even a limited knowl- 
edge of this most wonderful science w 7 ould save worlds of 
suffering and thousands of human lives, as a duty we owe to 
humanity we have thrust aside the vail of mystery in which 
it has been shrouded and place it before the thinking world 
in all its grandeur, simplicity, and truth. 

As this book is intended to reach the masses, we will 
endeavor to avoid as much as possible anatomical words and 
medical phrases, which too long have been used to confuse 
and mystify the people. 

Dr. Elmer D. Barber. 



*-2~ 



RESEARCHES OF DR. ELMER D. BARBER. 

The author was born in Oneida, N. Y., May 17, 1858, and 
when a mere boy arrived at the conclusion that the age of 
miracles was past, and that all results could be traced to a 
reasonable cause. 

While in Jersey City, N. J., we met a gentleman who, 
without the use of drugs or surgical instruments,by manip- 
ulations which he could not explain, was curing hundreds 
of people in a public hall. 

Then came Paul Castor, whose cures were equally mar- 
velous and likewise inexplicable. We visited faith doc- 
tors and spiritualistic mediums and witnessed their results, 
but found the principle on which they worked shrouded in 
mystery. 

We next heard of Dr. Andrew T. Still, who was effecting 
cure after cure in a marvelous manner ; upon (as he claimed) 
scientific principles. We visited the old doctor, were con- 
vinced that he had discovered the fundamental principles 
on which were based the results accidentally reached by 
others, and entered his School of Osteopathy, from which 
we graduated March 2, 1895, with an average grade of 99 in 
Anatomy and Physiology and 100 in Osteopathy. 

While it is our desire to give Dr. Still credit for the new 
science which he discovered, we must differ with him as to 
the true cause of the results reached by the Osteopath. 
While the good Doctor believes that nearly all diseases are 
caused by dislocated bones, nearly always finding them and 
thereby winning for himself the name of "Bone Doctor,'' in 
our practice we never find a great number of dislocations and 
by the same manipulation effect the same cures as Dr. Still. 
If a bone is really dislocated and has been in that condition 



T2 OSTEOPATHY, 

for years, the dislocation can not be reduced; but if the 
muscles are contracted, causing a stiff joint or depressing the 
ribs, they can be quickly relieved by manipulation, and the 
patient is easily led to believe that the bone was dislocated. 
While we do not doubt for an instant that our classmates 
are sincere in their belief that in catarrh, sore eyes, deafness, 
and other disease of the head, the atlas is dislocated, and 
that they cure these diseases by setting the atlas, we believe 
that twisting, pulling, and stretching the neck in a vain 
attempt to move the atlas stretches the muscles, thereby 
freeing the circulation and permitting Nature to assert her- 
self. Be they right or wrong, our readers can cure any acute 
disease in the head, almost instantly, by gently pulling on the 
head and rotating it in all directions; and any chronic com- 
plaint, except cancer, total deafness, or total blindness, by 
a continuation of the same method. We all agree upon the 
one great point that man is a machine, and that Dr. A. T. 
Still has discovered centers upon which a pressure of the 
hand will cause the heart to slow or quicken its action, from 
which we can regulate the action of the stomach, bowels, 
liver, pancreas, kidneys, and the diaphragm. The thousands 
of people snatched from the grave by an application of these 
never-failing principles are proof postive that at last the 
keynote has been struck; that at last a man is found and a 
school established that can explain intelligently why certain 
manipulations produce certain results we all agree. 

Viewing the brain, the cerebrospinal cord, and the nerves 
as an immense telegraph system (the brain acting not only 
as a great dynamo, generating the forces which control and 
move the body, but as headquarters, receiving and sending 
messages to all parts of the body; the slender nerves passing 
through, under, over, and between the hundreds of bones, 
muscles, arteries, veins, ligaments, and various organs), can 
you wonder that the wires are sometimes down,that the com- 



OSTEOPATHY. 1 3 

ruunication is occasionally cut off between headquarters and 
some important office, or that paralysis is the result? Do 
you wonder that occasionally the wires are crossed, and that 
the message (possibly to the bowels, to discharge their load) 
is received by the kidneys, which promptly obey the order? 
The bowels having failed to respond to orders from head- 
quarters, a second message goes over the wires, and again 
the kidneys answer the summons; the result is kidney disease 
and constipation. Will you pour poisonous drugs into the 
unoffending stomach, which has never failed to obey an 
order received, or would it be advisable to try and fix the 
wires? While we cannot go directly to the nerves at fault, 
we can, by manipulations, which will be fully described under 
their proper head, stretch the contracted muscle that is 
obstructing the current; whereupon, if the case has not 
become chronic, the bowels will immediately resume their 
functions and the excited kidneys will cease to act so rapidly. 
In chronic cases it usually takes Xature from two to six 
weeks to assert herself. In the nervous system, as in the 
telegraphic, the current must not be obstructed, or disease 
nnd death are the result. 

The massage treatment, which we believe is based upon 
strength and ignorance, effects many remarkable cures by 
moving the flesh and muscles in all possible directions over 
the entire body. They unwittingly and unavoidably, if they 
are very thorough, free the right spot, establishing the cir- 
cuit, thus permitting Nature to assert herself. 

Another very important part in this complicated machine 
:s the systemic, pulmonary, and portal circulation: the 
arteries, cylindrical vessels, conveying the blood through 
this network of nerves and muscles to all parts of the body; 
the veins gathering up and returning it to the never-tiring 
heart, pumping steadily throughout a lifetime, driving the 
blood to the most remote part of the system and forcing it 



H 



OSTEOPATHY. 



to return. Is it to be wondered at that occasionally a muscle 
contracts, after a hard day's work or exposure to the cold, 
possibly obstructing some little river of blood on its journey 
to nourish a given part? Do you wonder that the part in 
question weakens from lack of nourishment and fails to 
perform its allotted task? As it is the blood that must con- 
vey all substances of nourishment to the different parts, is 
it a wonder that the medicine never arrives at its destination? 
Should a large artery be obstructed in a similar manner, 
would it be surprising if the heart, working against heavy 
odds, trying to pump the blood past the obstruction, in time 
felt the pressure? in which case heart disease would be the 
result. Shall we now convert the long-suffering stomach 
into a drug store, or, viewing man as a machine, remove the 
cause? Should the contraction be in the thigh, obstructing 
the femoral artery, we have cold feet and limbs on one side 
of the obstruction, and heart disease on the other. If the 
veins returning the blood are obstructed in the same region, 
we niay have either dropsy, inflammatory rheumatism, ery- 
sipelas, eczema, or varicose veins, caused by the stagnant, 
pent-up blood, on one side, and heart disease on the other. 
Having briefly referred to the bones that support the 
nerves that control, and the blood that supplies, let us dwell 
for a moment on the muscles that move and propel this won- 
derful living machine. As the only power muscles have is 
in contraction, they must be arranged in such a position and 
so attached to the bone as to pull from any direction in which 
it may be necessary to move a given part. Receiving as they 
do not only their orders to act, but their motor power, from 
that great dynamo the brain, they may be justly compared 
to so many electric cars. One car may be larger and stronger 
than another, but, deprived of the current from that slender 
wire, which of itself is nothing, neither can move from its 
position. Is this not indeed a delicate and complicated 



OSTEOPATHY. 



15 



piece of machinery, the nerves and fluids of the body moving 
unobstructed through the hundreds of rapidly contracting 
and relaxing muscles? We state most emphatically that the 
true cause of all disease may be traced to some muscle which 
has contracted and for some unaccountable reason has failed 
to relax, thus interfering with all the forces of life. It is by 
working on these principles which we have briefly sketched 
that we achieve results bordering on the miraculous; it is by 
working on these principles that Dr. Still draws patients 
from the length and breadth of our land; it is by working on 
these same principles, fully explained and illustrated in the 
following pages, that any family can attain the same results. 

OSTEOPATHY IN A NUTSHELL. 

First: Using the arms and limbs as levers, stretching 
all muscles to which they give attachment and moving the 
flesh and muscles from side to side the entire length of the 
limb stretches and softens those muscles, thus permitting a 
free flow of the fluids and nerve forces to these parts, a 
stoppage of which means disease in some of its varied forms. 
One thorough treatment of an arm or leg will often instantly 
cure and always relieve an acute case of any nature in the 
extremities, and a very few treatments, administered one 
each day, will cure any acute case. Chronic cases can be 
usually cured by a continuation of the treatment, every other 
day, for from two to six weeks, even after all other methods 
have been tried and failed. 

Second: Move and soften, by deep manipulations and 
by rotating the body as much as possible, all the muscles of 
the spine, the cerebrospinal cord being the great trunk from 
which springs the spinal nerves, it being contained in and 
protected by the upper three-fourths of the spinal column, 
which is very flexible, consisting of many separate bones, 



!6 OSTEOPATHY. 

between which is placed the elastic intravertebral cartilage. 
As the spinal nerves which control the different muscles, 
organs, etc., escape from the spinal cord through openings 
or foramina in the different sections of the vertebral column, 
it will be readily understood that the numerous muscles 
which are attached to and move the spine must always be 
very soft and elastic; that contraction here means inter- 
ference with nerves that may control some distant part and 
a consequent partial or complete paralysis of that part, until 
by manipulation or accidentally you stretch the muscle at 
fault, thus turning on the current from that great dynamo 
the brain, and once more your machine moves forward. 
What w r ould be your opinion of a motorman, when his car 
came to a standstill through lack of motor power, if he poured 
medicine on the wheels? It would be just as sensible as 
converting the stomach into an apothecary's shop, hoping 
thereby to remove an obstruction which was breaking the 
current betw r een headquarters and the liver. We find that 
there are very few organic troubles wiiose origin may not be 
traced directly to the spine and cured by a thorough treat- 
ment of the spinal column continued every second day for 
from two to six weeks. In 90 per cent of all cases immediate 
relief will be the result of the first treatment. 

Third: Using the head as a lever, move and stretch all 
the muscles of the neck. This treatment frees the circula- 
tion to the head, an obstruction of which is the true cause 
of catarrh, weak eyes, deafness, roaring in the head, dizziness, 
and, in fact, almost all disorders of the head. Many acute 
cases can be instantly cured, while those that have become 
chronic require from two to six weeks. 

Fourth: Bending the patient backward, with the knee 
pressing on the back just below the last rib, will instantly 
.cure any case of looseness of the bowels, from common 



OSTEOPATHY. 



17 



diarrhea to bloody flux, and a continuation of the treatment 
will cure any case of chronic diarrhea. 

Fifth: A nerve-center has been discovered at the base 
of the brain, termed vaso-motor, which can be reached by a 
pressure on the back of the neck over the upper cervicals. A 
pressure at this point continued from three to five minutes 
will slow the action of the heart, often reducing the pulse 
from 100 to a normal condition in a few minutes' time. It is 
from this center that, without the use of drugs, we control 
fevers, curing any fever that is curable in one-half the time 
that the same work can be done with medicine. 

Sixth: In all cases where the general system seems to 
be affected, give a general treatment, thus freeing and per- 
mitting all the forces of the machine to act. 

Seventh: Never treat an acute case oftener than once 
in three hours, or a chronic case oftener than once a day. 

Eighth: It is never safe to use this treatment during 
pregnancy, except in diseases of the head or extremities, and 
in those with caution. To draw the arms high and strongly 
above the head, at the same instant pressing on the spine 
below the last dorsal vertebra, or to flex the limbs strongly 
against the chest, during this period, is dangerous in the 
extreme. 

Xinth: While this treatment will improve the action 
and remove the pain in stiff, chronic dislocated joints, the 
dislocation can never be reduced. We have seen it tried 
and tried it ourselves a great many times, meeting with no 
success where there was really a dislocation. There are a 
great many cases where the patient is suffering from rheuma- 
tism or a similar trouble in which the muscles are contracted, 
and he can easily be led to believe that a dislocation does 
really exist, and that the operator who simply stretches the 
muscles has reduced the imaginary dislocation. This we 
believe also to be the case regarding the many dislocated 



X 8 OSTEOPATHY. 

ribs found by the average "bone doctor." While they may be 
correct, we have demonstrated the fact, times without num- 
ber, that drawing the arms high above the head, at the same 
instant pressing at almost any point with the knee immedi- 
ately below the scapulas, thus stretching the muscles of the 
chest and springing the ribs forward, will instantly cure 
sharp acute pains in the sides or chest and certain cases of 
heart disease, while a continuation of the same treatment 
will cure asthma or consumption. It is on this vital point 
that we differed in class as well as in practice with the other 
members of our profession. While they trace most effects 
to dislocated bones, and never fail toi effect a cure if it is 
within the bounds of reason, we effect equally remarkable 
cures by simply stretching and manipulating the muscles, 
thus freeing the circulation. While we do not believe it 
possible that to hide his secrets a "bone doctor" would deceive 
the public, we believe that in a vain attempt to set the bones 
in the manner prescribed by Dr. Still the circulation is freed 
and the patient recovers. 



HOW TO APPLY OSTEOPATHY. 

First: Secure a pine table, two feet high, two feet wide, 
and six feet long, over which spread a bed-quilt and at one 
end place one or two pillows. While an acute case may be 
treated on a chair, a couch, or on the floor, for a chronic case, 
which is liable to take several weeks' treatment, it is always 
advisable to secure a table. 

Second: In treating a gentleman it is seldom necessary 
to remove more than his outer clothing. 

Third: A lady must loosen her tight clothing and re- 
move her corset. The principles of Osteopathy as described 
in this work can be applied successfully through a reasonable 
amount of clothing, except in cases which will be apparent. 



OSTEOPATHY. 2 1 

MAN AS A MACHINE. 

The entire skeleton in the adult consists of two hundred 
distinct bones, articulating with each other in perfect har- 
mony. Some are arranged to allow the utmost freedom of 
motion, others are limited, while others are fixed and immov- 
able. On the bones are many prominences for the attach- 
ment of muscles and ligaments and many openings (or 
foramina) for the entrance of nutrient vessels. 

The thorax is a bony cage formed by the ribs, the dorsal 
vertebrae, and the sternum; it contains the principal organs 
of respiration and circulation. 

Should the muscles of the chest contract, as is often the 
case, springing the ribs, which are the most elastic bones in 
the body, lessening the dimensions of the thorax, we have 
asthma, consumption, or heart disease; while a partial dis- 
location of the lower ribs, caused by contracting muscles, 
causes enlargement of the spleen, stomach trouble, and 
various other diseases which can readily be cured by manip- 
ulations. 

There are over five hundred muscles in the human body 
connected with the bones, cartilage, and skin, either directly 
or through the intervention of fibrous structures called ten- 
dons or aponeuroses. Muscles differ much in size; the 
gastrocnemius forms the chief bulk of the back of the leg, 
and the fibers of the sartorius are nearly two feet in length, 
while the stapedius, a small muscle of the internal ear, weighs 
about a grain, and its fibers are less than two lines in length. 

Now, having briefly mentioned the bones and the muscles 
we will touch upon the arteries that nourish this most inter- 
esting and intricate piece of machinery. 



22 OSTEOPATHY. 

CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 

The course taken by the blood on its way to the various 
parts of the body is called the systemic circulation, on account 
of its having to make repeatedly the circuit of vessels leading 
to and from the heart. 

The arteries are small cylindrical muscular vessels, and 
might be compared to rivers throwing a branch to each mus- 
cle in their course, while the veins gather up and return the 
venous blood to the heart, wiiere it is pumped through the 
pulmonary arteries to the lungs. 

It will now be readily understood, as the heart is a 
double pump, driving the blood through the arteries and 
veins, that the contraction of muscles throwing a pressure 
on arteries or veins which pass through, under, or between 
them would certainly affect the heart and necessarily derange 
the entire system. We trust that our readers will note these 
points carefully, as we expect to prove that many cases of 
heart disease, rheumatism, dropsy, neuralgia, tumor, goitre, 
and cancer are caused by contracted muscles and are readily 
cured by a system of treatment which removes the cause 
and gives Nature a chance to act. 

To illustrate more fully, and demonstrate the folly of 
converting the stomach into an apothecary's shop, let us 
compare the systemic circulation to an irrigating system. 
Through your fields run innumerable ditches; one is obstruct- 
ed by a fallen tree, causing the water to back up, seeking 
some other channel or a weak place in the bank to escape. 
What is the result? Too much water in one end and too 
little in the other. Will you go to the reservoir and throw 
in a little quinine, a little calomel, and a little whisky, or 
will you remove the cause? Thus it is that when confronted 
with heart disease you should immediately ascertain if the 
patient is troubled with cold extremities; such being the 



OSTEOPATHY. 2 3 

case, using the limbs as levers, stretch the muscles as shown 
in cut 6, page 49, thus freeing the arteries from this undue 
pressure, permitting the blood to pass down to and warm 
the extremities, at the same time relieving the heart. 

We will now pass to the nerves, which not only control 
the action of the muscles and various organs, but also con- 
trol the caliber of the arteries, thus regulating (when not 
interfered with by slight dislocations of bone or contraction 
of muscles) with the utmost precision the entire systemic, 
pulmonary, and portal circulation. The central part of the 
nervous system or cerebro-spinal axis consists of the spinal 
cord (medulla spinalis), the bulb (medulla oblongata), and 
the brain; the spinal cord being the great bond of connection 
between the brain and the majority of the peripheral nerves. 
As most of the nerves originate in the spinal cord, and as the 
cord is in direct communication with and might be considered 
part of the brain, it will be readily understood that a pressure 
on any of these nerves, interrupting communication betw 7 een 
the brain and some distant part, will cause paralysis of the 
part controlled by the nerve involved. 

The digestive organs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and even 
the action of the heart, can be regulated by a slight pressure 
of the hand on certain nerve-centers in the spine, which will 
be discussed more fully in another chapter. 

While we have touched but briefly on the anatomy and 
physiology of the human body, and it would be most inter- 
esting and instructive to read up in Gray and Landois, we 
trust we have proven to our readers that man is a machine, 
and laid the foundation for a thorough understanding of our 
method of treating diseases by manipulation and without 
the use of drugs or surgical instruments. 



24 OSTEOPATHY, 

ASTHMA. 

Symptoms. 
Recurrent and temporary difficulty in breathing, ac- 
companied by a wheezing sound and a sense of constriction 
in the throat, with cough and expectoration. Authors 
distinguish two varieties: dry convulsive or nervous, 
and humid or common. In the first variety the attacks are 
sudden and violent and of short duration, the sense of con- 
striction is hard, dry, and spasmodic, the cough slight, and 
expectoration scanty and only appearing toward the end of 
the paroxysm. In the second variety the paroxysm is grad- 
ual and protracted, the constriction heavy, laborious, and 
humid, the cough violent, and expectoration commences 
early, and is at first scanty and viscid, but afterward copious, 
affording great relief. In many cases the attack is in the 
night, and most frequently an hour or two after midnight. 

Cause of Asthma. 

Asthma, pronounced incurable by the medical fraternity, 
can be relieved and in most cases cured by an application 
of the principles laid down in the following pages. 

As we have mentioned before, the thorax is a bony cage, 
formed by the ribs, dorsal vertebrae, and sternum, containing 
and protecting the principal organs of circulation and respi- 
ration. The ribs are not only very elastic, but, being con- 
nected with the sternum by costo-cartilage and with the 
dorsal vertebrae by ligaments, have limited motion. Thus it 
will be seen that they are easily affected by accident or 
contraction of the muscles. In most cases of asthma a 
slight depression will be noticed over the second, third, 
and fourth ribs on the left side, about two inches to 
the left of the median line, while the cartilaginous 
portion of the corresponding ribs on the right 




Cutl. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



27 



side will be found elevated; occasionally this will 
be reversed, but in either case it is proof positive that 
the framework which is supposed to protect the vital 
machinery of life is out of gear. Now, having correctly 
diagnosed this case, having proven that the lungs or bronchial 
tubes are not at fault, shall we act on the principle that the 
human system is a machine, and proceed to remove the cause? 

Let us suppose you were caught in a cyclone and a heavy 
timber pins you to the earth. Will you then beg for medicine, 
or ask some friend to remove the weight that bears you 
down? If you are suffering from asthma, dear reader, each 
I faint cough, each gasping breath is a prayer from the im- 
prisoned organs within for some one to raise the ribs and 
expand the chest. 

The great Creator, in His infinite wisdom, has arranged 
for just such an emergency as this by preparing a system of 
levers, one of which we will now use in raising the ribs, 
stretching the intercostal muscles, and expanding the chest. 

The pectoralis major, a large muscle which covers the 
entire front of the chest, attaching to the sternal half of the 
clavicle (collar-bone), the six or seven upper ribs, and the 
cartilages of all the true ribs, is inserted by a flat tendon 
into the external bicipital ridge of the humerus about two 
or three inches below the shoulder-joint. If you will raise 
your arm high above the head, you will feel all the upper 
ribs move, thus proving that our theory is correct. 

Asthma Treatment. 
Place the patient on the back, with a pillow under the 
head. Two assistants at the head of the table; one places 
his right, the other his left hand under the patient's shoulders 
on the angle of the second rib, half way between the 
scapula (shoulder-blade) and spine and one inch above the 
scapula. With the disengaged hands take the patient's 



2 8 OSTEOPATHY. 

wrists, and, slowly drawing the arms upward high above 
the head (see cut 1, page 25), pull steadily and strongly for 
a moment; at the same time with the fingers press steadily 
on the angle of the ribs. Lower the arms slowly, the elbows 
passing below and to the sides of the table. Move the fingers 
dow r n the spine one inch, to the angle of the next rib, and 
draw up the arms as before, and repeat until you have raised 
the four or five upper ribs. It will be also observed that 
this operation stretches the intercostal muscles. 

The patient will now be seated upon a stool. The opera- 
tor places his knee between the shoulders, grasps the 
patient's w T rists and raises the arms slowly but strongly high 
above the head, pressing hard with the knee and lowering 
the arms with a backward motion (see cut 2, page 29). 

Instant relief is often felt after the first treatment, and 
a continuation of the treatment seldom fails to effect a cure. 
Coughs, colds on the lungs, short, difficult breathing, and 
pleurisy never fail to respond quickly to our asthma treat- 
ment. Of the numerous cases treated by us in this manner 
90 per cent have been cured and all benefited. 

If every family who reads these pages would make a 
cheap pine table two feet high, two feet wide, and six feet 
long, and make a practice of treating each other as directed, 
they would soon overcome the awkwardness at the first ex- 
perience, and be able to relieve themselves and friends of 
innumerable ailments. 




Cut 2. 



OSTEOPATHY. 31^ 

CONSUMPTION. 
Symptoms. 

The special symptoms are a short and tickling cough;- 
the pain in the chest is slight, and there is either a sense of 
tenderness or weight experienced at the upper part of the 
lungs; the breathing is habitually short, and a full inspira- 
tion is impracticable, the attempt increasing the sense of 
weight and soreness or aggravating the cough; the expecto- 
rations are generally scanty and small in quantity in the 
early stages, and in many cases are very trifling throughout; 
the matter expectorated is watery and whey-like, sometimes 
tinged with blood, and as the disease progresses thick, tena- 
cious, curdy, or cheesey particles are excreted. As the 
functional powers of the lungs become impaired the pulse 
becomes frequent and feeble, the breathing grows shorter; 
irregular chills come on, succeeded by some degree of feverish 
heat, and in the last stages night-sweats, diarrhea, swelling 
of the limbs, etc., denote the rapidly approaching fatal termi- 
nation. The local condition of the part diseased is one of 
engorgement, and its secretions are changed from a healthy 
to a morbid condition. 

It is a well-known fact that cold will contract not only 
iron and steel, but the muscles of the human body. To prove 
our theory is correct, allow a cold draught of air to strike the 
neck for a short time, and possibly the next morning you 
have a stiff neck. Why is it that the head does not turn 
freely on its axis? Because the muscles that were exposed 
have contracted and are a little too short. Acting on these 
principles, we trace consumption to the contracted muscles 
of the chest, which are forcing the elastic ribs down upon 
the pleura and lungs. The old idea is that as the lungs decay 
the ribs settle. How absurd to imagine that the soft, spongy 
lungs support the chest! As well say that a house full of 
sponges would hold up the roof. 



3 2 OSTEOPATHY. 

We have established the fact, beyond the shadow of a 
doubt, that it is the steady pressure of the contracting mus- 
cles that causes this dread disease, and experience has taught 
us that until tuberculosis sets in it can be cured. 

Consumption Treatment. 
Give our asthma treatment, working down as low as 
the eighth rib, as shown in cut 1, also giving the treatment 
as shown in cut 2, using great care to exert as much strength 
as the patient can stand without much inconvenience. In 
treating consumption, besides our regular asthma and con- 
sumption treatment, we usually give a general treatment 
of the spine, to tone up the system and equalize the cir- 
culation. 

General Treatment of Spine. 

Place the patient on the right side, facing the operator, 
his left arm flexed, the elbow resting on the right arm of the 
operator, pressing against the humerus, thus making a lever 
of the patient's arm to stretch the muscles of the shoulder 
and scapula (shoulder-blade). The patient must allow his 
muscles to relax as much as possible. The operator will now 
place his hands in the position shown in cut 3, page 33. With 
the finger-ends close to the spine, pressing quite hard, using 
the arm as a lever, with a circular motion move the muscles 
under the hand tow T ard the head. 

Do not let the hands slip on the spine, as that would be 
simply rubbing. Our object is to loosen and stretch the 
muscles, thus freeing the vital forces of life from any obstruc- 
tion and equalizing the circulation. After each upward 
motion, move the hands down one inch, keeping close to the 
spine and working deep the entire length of the spinal col- 
umn. The left side will now r be treated in a like manner. It 
should not take over fifteen minutes to give the entire treat- 
ment, and the effect on the patient is simply wonderful. 




Cut 3. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



35 



All manipulation must be slow, careful, and strong. 
The patient can usually be relied upon to caution the operator 
if too much strength is being used. A thorough treatment 
every other day is often enough, as Nature must be given a 
chance to do her part. Light cases of lung trouble can be 
cured in two w^eeks by this treatment, and the most stubborn 
in from six to ten. 

BRONCHITIS. 

Symptoms. 

This disease is attended with more or less suffocation 
and spasmodic respiration. The disease commences with 
more or less cough, irritation about the throat, sense of tight- 
ness in the chest, and shortness of breath, which do not for 
a considerable time attract attention. The first difficulty 
generally noticed as of importance is a sense of roughness, 
with frequent attempts to clear the throat, accompanied 
with or followed by titillation of the larynx, exciting a dry, 
hard cough. These are, after a longer or shorter period, 
succeeded by some hoarseness of voice, with a sense of tight- 
ness across the chest, and sometimes a slight pain or diffused 
soreness upon coughing or inflating the lungs fully by a 
prolonged and deep inspiration. All the causes of consump- 
tion under modified circumstances produce this form of pul- 
monary disease. 

Treatment. 

Bronchitis being a modified form of consumption, our 
asthma and consumption treatment (page 27) is especially 
applicable, giving immediate relief, and in from two to six 
weeks effecting a permanent cure. Treatment is to be given 
every other day. 



36 OSTEOPATHY. 

DIPHTHERIA. 

Symptoms. 

Diphtheria is divisible into two forms, simple and ma- 
lignant. In the simple variety, happily the most common, 
the symptoms are at first so mild as to excite little complaint 
beyond a slight difficulty of swallowing or pain in the throat, 
burning skin, pains in the limbs, etc. 

Malignant diphtheria is ushered in with severe fever, 
rigors, vomiting or purging, sudden great prostration and 
restlessness,anxious countenance, etc.,pointing to some over- 
whelming disease under w T hich the system is laboring. The 
skin is hot, the face flushed, the throat sore, and the mucous 
membrane of the throat bright red; the tonsils are swollen, 
and gray or white patches of deposit appear on them, small 
at first, but gradually enlarging, so that one patch merges 
into another, forming a false membrane in the throat, render- 
ing swallowing and even breathing difficult; in some cases 
the false membrane has been detached and after extreme 
effort ejected, presenting nearly an exact mold of the throat. 
The exudation of diphtheria may be distinguished from a 
slough by its easily crumbling, by the facility with which it 
can often be detached, and by the surface thus exposed being 
red, but not ulcerated. The glands of the neck are always 
enlarged; sometimes pain is felt in the ear, and there is gen- 
erally stiffness of the neck. 

As the disease progresses, the patient passes into a 
stupor, and the difficulty of swallowing or breathing increases 
till the false membrane is ejected, or the patient dies from 
suffocation, or he sinks from exhaustion similar to that 
observed in typhoid fever. 

Dangerous symptoms are a quick, feeble, or very slow 
pulse, persistent vomiting, drowsiness, delirium, suppressed 
urine, and bleeding from the nose. Diphtheria is caused by 




Cut 4. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



39 



a contraction of the muscles of the neck and thorax, as well 
as by a contraction of the muscles of respiration, which, inter- 
fering with the circulation of the fluids of the body, cause 
the inflamed condition of the larynx, bronchial tubes, and 
throat. Diphtheria, even in its most malignant form, suc- 
cumbs to the following treatment. 

Diphtheria Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the back, with one hand under 
the chin, the other under the back of the head; pull gently, 
rotating the head from side to side (cut 4). 

2d. Pull slow T ly and strongly until the body moves, 
without rotating the head. 

3d. With the fingers, beginning under the chin, move 
all the muscles of the neck from side to side. 

4th. Place the finger in patient's mouth and move the 
muscles of the throat gently; this loosens the membrane, 
which usually will be immediately expelled. 

5th. With one hand draw the arm high above the head; 
at the same instant, with the fingers of the other between 
the spine and scapula at its upper border, press firmly on the 
angle of the rib, lower the arm with a backward motion, 
move the fingers one inch down the spine, draw up the arm, 
and repeat until the lower border of the scapula is reached. 
Treat the other side in a similar manner. 

6th. Place the arms around patient's body, the fingers 
meeting at the spine immediately below the last ribs, and, 
while pressing with the fingers on each side of the spine, 
raise the patient's body slowly and gently until only the hips 
and shoulders rest on the bed; this should be repeated two or 
three times, moving the hands two or three inches each time 
toward the head; it w T ill instantl.y stop all purging and 
vomiting. 

7th. Place one hand on each side of the neck, the fingers 



4 OSTEOPATHY. 

almost meeting below the occipital bone (see cut 5); press 
gently for two or three minutes. It is here you reach nerves 
that control the caliber of the arteries, thus slowing the 
action of the heart. 

Diphtheria in its most malignant form has never, in our 
experience, failed to yield readily to this treatment, instant 
relief being experienced and a complete cure effected in a 
very few days. Treatment should be given every six hours, 
and the vaso-motor center (cut 5) may be held at any time, 
as it always gives relief. 

MEMBRANEOUS CROUP. 

Symptoms. 
Fretfultiess, feverishness, cold in the head, and slight 
hoarseness, increasing towards evening and in the early 
night. Sometimes, however, without a single warning symp- 
tom, the child startles us in the night with a hoarse, ringing 
cough, which cannot be so described as to be recognized, but 
which no one who has ever heard it can fail to know T again. 
There is a sense of suffocation, a hurried, hoarse, and hissing 
breathing,as if the air were drawn into the lungs and expelled 
through too small an opening in some instrument, which 
is the fact, for such an instrument is the accumulated phlegm 
in the larynx. When there is much fever and inflammation, 
the tendency to the formation of false membrane is very 
slight; whereas, in cases that seem mild at the beginning the 
disease often passes to the membraneous stage unsuspected. 

Treatment. 

Our diphtheria treatment (page 39) will give instant 
relief, and a permanent cure in a few days if the treatment 
is continued. A treatment should be given upon retiring 
each night until all symptoms have entirely disappeared. 




Cut 5. 



OSTEOPATHY. 43 

NURSING SORE MOUTH. 

Symptoms. 
This is an affection from which nursing women occasion- 
ally suffer. It consists of inflammation of the lining of the 
mouth, which is covered with very small ulcers; these cause 
a stinging and burning sensation, and cheese-like matter 
exudes from them; a profuse flow of saliva is also frequently 
present. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place one hand under the chin, the other under the 
back of the head (cut 4) ; pull gently, rotating the head, en- 
deavoring to move and stretch all the muscles of the neck, 
thus freeing the circulation, which is at fault. 

2d. With the fingers, beginning close under the chin, 
move all the muscles very deep, but gently, the entire length 
of the front of the neck. This simple treatment in a few 
days will cure any case of nursing sore mouth. Treatment 
should be given each day. 

PUTRID SORE THROAT. 

Symptoms. 
This disease generally affects the glands of the throat, 
while the common quinsy affects the mucous membrane. In 
putrid sore throat there are also canker sores and ulcers in 
the throat, together with great debility of the system. In 
inflammatory sore throat there is always great difficulty of 
swallowing, whereas in the other these symptoms are not 
present. 

Treatment 
This disease being caused by a contraction of the mus- 
cles of the neck, obstructing the blood in the returning veins, 
which, becoming putrid, works its way to the surface, forming 



44 OSTEOPATHY. 

sores and inflammation in the mucous membrane lining the 
throat, can be easily and quickly cured by our nursing sore 
moutli treatment (page 43). Treatment should be given 
each day. 

CEREBBO-SP1NAL MENINGITIS. 

Symptoms. 
Acute or excruciating pains in the head, throbbing of 
the temporal and carotid arteries, flushed face, eyes injected 
and brilliantly reddish, contracted pupils, and a wild ex- 
pression of countenance characterize the disease when fully 
formed. These symptoms are preceded by various cerebral 
and febrile disturbances — sometimes violent delirium, at 
other times nausea and vomiting or general convulsions. 
The bow r els are usually extremely costive; there is also great 
intolerance of light and sound and incessant watchfulness; 
the skin is dry and hot, the pulse hard and quick, the tongue 
dry and covered with a white fur, and there is intense thirst. 

Cause of Cerebrospinal Meningitis. 
Cerebro-spinal meningitis, which carries thousands to 
an untimely grave each year, yields readily to this method of 
treatment. So simple is the treatment, and so plainly will 
we place it before the public, that a child can treat it under- 
standing^ and successfully, thus robbing that dread malady 
of at least half its terrors. It was the loss of four of his 
children by this disease that turned the thoughts of Andrew 
T. Still, that deep thinker and wonderful reasoner, toward 
the fundamental principles of this science, which is certain 
to revolutionize the medical world. After years of study, 
the good doctor discovered that the muscles which attach to 
and bind together (in connection with the ligaments) the 
spinal vertebrae were contracted, thus throwing an undue 



OSTEOPATHY. 



45 



pressure on the intervertebral substance and interfering 
not only with the nerve-supply, but with the circulation of 
the cord itself; and, for the first time looking on man as a 
machine, he applied the only rational remedy. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on his back, and, while gently 
rotating the head from side to side, stretch the muscles of 
the neck in all directions (cut 4), using increased strength 
as the patient becomes accustomed to the motion. 

2d. With one hand under the patient's chin, the other 
under the back of his head, pull gently and gradually 
stronger until you move the body. It is well to treat the 
entire length of the spine as shown in cut 3, after which 
hold the vaso-motor center (cut 5). (The vaso-motor is a 
nervous center which controls the caliber of the arteries, 
and can be reached by a pressure on the four upper cervical 
vertebrae; from this point we control even the action of the 
heart.) Place one hand under each side of the neck (stand- 
ing at the patient's side) until the fingers nearly meet, cover- 
ing a space from the head down the neck the breadth of four 
fingers; press gently, and in a few minutes your patient w 7 ill 
be resting easy. Treatment should be given every six hours, 
and the vaso-motor center may be held at any time to give 
relief. This, in hundreds of cases, has never been known 
to fail, even when death seemed very near; and, wiien taken 
in time, we would as soon treat a case of cerebro-spinal 
meningitis as a hard cold. 



4 6 OSTEOPATHY. 

PALSY (PARALYSIS). 

Symptoms. 
Palsy is a disease principally affecting the nervous 
system, characterized by a loss or diminution of motion or 
feeling or of both in one or more parts of the body. When 
one entire side of the body from the head downward is 
affected, it is distinguished among professional men by the 
name of hemiplegia; if the lower half of the body be attacked 
by the disease, it is named paraplegia; and when confined to 
a particular limb or set of muscles, it is called paralysis. 
Palsy usually comes on with a sudden and immediate loss of 
motion and sensibility of the parts. It is sometimes pre- 
ceded by a numbness, coldness, and paleness, and some- 
times by slight convulsive twitches. When the head is 
much affected, the eye and mouth are drawn on one side, the 
memory and judgment are much impaired, and the speech 
indistinct; if the extremities are affected, it not only produces 
a loss of motion and sensibility, but a wasting of the muscles 
of the affected parts. The attack is usually preceded by 
some of these symptoms, but occasionally the disease ad- 
vances more slowly; a finger, hand, or arm, or the muscles 
of the tongue, of the mouth, or of the eyelids, being first 
affected. 

Cause of Paralysis. 
Paralysis in its various forms, while stubborn, can in- 
variably be cured by our method if taken in time, and even 
in its last stages great good may be done the patient. 
Osteopathy is the only rational method of treating this 
disease. It is caused by a pressure on some of the various 
nerve-centers, or paralysis of any part may be caused by 
pressure on the nerves which control that part. The brain, 
cerebrospinal cord, and nerves may justly be compared 



OSTEOPATHY. 



47 



to an immense telegraph system, the nerves carrying mes- 
sages to and from the brain. 

That the average reader may have a more correct under- 
standing of the nervous system, of the power which causes 
the heart to beat, the blood to flow, the lungs to inhale, the 
alimentary canal to perform its allotted task, and the 
muscles to act, let us dwell for a moment on the brain, the 
spinal cord, and the vertebral or spinal column, as it is on 
this line of thought that we must reach paralysis. 

The nervous system is composed — 

First: Of a series of large centers of nerve-matter, 
called collectively the cerebrospinal center or axis. 

Second: Of smaller centers, called ganglia. 

Third: Nerves connected either with the cerebrospinal 
axis or ganglia; and 

Fourth: Of certain modifications of the peripheral 
terminations of the nerves, forming the organs of external 
sense. 

The cerebro-spinal center consists of two parts, the 
spinal cord and encephalon or brain; the latter may be sub- 
divided into the cerebrum and cerebellum, the pons varolii 
and the medulla oblongata. 

The spine is a flexible and flexous column, composed of 
thirty-three separate and distinct bones in the child, and 
twenty-six in the adult, articulating with each other and the 
ribs, enclosing and protecting the spinal cord, supporting the 
head and trunk, and permitting the escape through its 
numerous foramina of the nerves which control the body. 
Is not this indeed a grand and w T onderful piece of mechan- 
ism? So strong, so delicate, so perfect! 

It is to this part of the human machinery that we trace 
half the ills that flesh is heir to. It is here that we find 
centers on which a simple pressure of the hand will instantly 



4 8 



OSTEOPATHY. 



cure cholera morbus, flux, cramp in the stomach, vomiting, 
etc., and it is here we must search for the cause and cure of 
paralysis. 

How to Make the Examination. 
Place the patient on his face and carefully examine the 
spine; in perfect health the vertebrae are all in line. If you 
find one of the spinous processes a little out of line, you 
have discovered the cause. It may be the result of an 
accident, it may be turned slightly out of its normal position 
by a contracted muscle; be that as it may, we have here a 
pressure on the spinal cord, causing partial or complete 
paralysis. 

Paralysis Treatment. 

1st. Free the muscles thoroughly (as shown in cut 3) 
on each side of the spine the entire length, particularly at 
the seat of trouble. 

2d. Let one assistant now take the patient's shoulders, 
another his feet, and pull steadily, slowly, and strongly, 
while the third presses the spinous process back in its place. 
It may take several treatments, but you will gain a little 
every time and finally succeed. There is absolutely no 
danger connected with this treatment if ordinary care is 
used. 

3d. Place the patient on his back, and, with one hand 
under the chin and the other under the back of the head, pull 
steadily until the body moves. This must not be omitted, as 
it starts up circulation in the spinal cord, and even reaches 
the brain. 

4th. Raise the arms and ribs as in cut 1, page 25. 

5th. Treat the limbs for circulation and to stretch the 
great sciatic, the largest nerve in the body, measuring three- 
quarters of an inch in breadth, and which is the continuation 





Cut 6. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



51 



of the lower part of the sacral plexus; it passes out of the 
pelvis through the great sacro-sciatic foramen below the 
pyriforrais muscle and descends between the great trochan- 
ter and the tuberosity of the ischium, along the back of the 
thigh, to about its middle third, where it divides into two 
large branches, the internal and external popliteal nerves. 
To stretch the sciatic nerve, place the patient on his back, 
stand at the side of the table, and grasp with the right hand 
the right ankle, your left hand resting lightly on the patient's 
knee; now flex the leg slowly against the abdomen as far as 
possible, using as much strength as the patient can stand 
(see cut 6). While in this position move the knee three or 
four times from right to left, without relaxing the pressure; 
now slowly extend the leg, throwing the knee to the right, 
the foot to the left, as shown in cut 7. This should be re- 
peated two or three times, and be reversed occasionally, 
throwing the knee to the left and the foot to the right. Treat 
the left limb in a similar manner. A treatment should not 
occupy over fifteen minutes, and should be given every day. 
This treatment will benefit and usually cure paralysis in 
any of its varied forms. If no dislocation is found, give the 
same treatment, as you may have overlooked it, and simply 
stretching the body will allow a very slight dislocation to 
slip back and free the cerebrospinal cord. 

Of the numerous cases of paralysis successfully treated 
by us, we might mention a little girl at Benjamin, northeast- 
ern Missouri. She had been a bright, active child until two 
w T eeks before she was brought to us for treatment, when it 
was noticed that she was losing the use of her lower limbs. 
We explained to the mother the cause of the trouble, a slip 
in the lumbar vertebrae throwing a pressure on the spinal 
cord, thus partially cutting off communication between the 
limbs and the brain. Her old family doctor insisted that the 
child had worms, and treated her for the same for four 



5 2 OSTEOPATHY. 

weeks, when the little sufferer had entirely lost the use of 
her lower extremities; he turned her over to us with the 
remark: that he did not understand the case. After four 
treatments as laid down in this work, the child could walk, 
and in three weeks was romping with her playmates. 

We will refer also to the case of a young lady of Galena, 
Kansas, suffering from creeping paralysis, or locomotor 
ataxy. This dread malady is caused by a diseased condition 
of the posterior column of the spinal cord, and our treatment, 
stretching and rotating the spine thoroughly, frees the cord 
and starts the circulation. The young lady in question was 
not only perfectly helpless, but her digestive organs and 
kidneys failed to act. In connection with our usual paraly- 
sis treatment, we gave the kidney and constipation treatment 
(see page 69). In a short time the lady 1 could walk with 
assistance, and in two months was on the high road to 
perfect health. 



ATEOPHY (SHRINKING OF MUSCLES). 

Atrophy of any part might well be mentioned at this 
time, it being a form of paralysis. It will be remembered 
that w T e mentioned the fact of the nerves controlling the 
caliber of the arteries, thus regulating the blood-supply. In 
atrophy we are confronted with a condition in which the 
nerves controlling the arteries which feed the withered 
parts are interfered with. The wires are down and the cry 
of hunger from the starving muscles never reaches the 
brain. 

But even] assuming that the brain is apprised of the 
fact that certain muscles are starving, that they need more 
blood, its message to the arteries to expand never reaches its 
destination. If it is the muscles of the leg that are starving, 
why not flex the leg upon the abdomen (see cut 6, page 50), 



v=r 




I 



Cut 7. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



55 



cles is to use the affected 
stretch the muscles conne 



rotating it inward and outward, thereby stretching the mus- 
cles and freeing and stretching the nerves at fault? We 
have absolutely never known this method to fail to restore 
shrinking limbs to their normal size. We have cured case 
after case by this simple, reliable and infallible method, 
and there is no reason why any of our readers should not be 
equally successful. "\ 

A good general rule in all cases of atrophy of the mus- 
member as a lever with which to 
rting it to the body in all possible 
directions, as it is here th^ obstruction is usually found, and 
by acting on these principles you will unwittingly stretch 
the right muscle, thus freeing the nerve and permitting the 
blood to pass down and nourish the affected parts. It is 
simply wonderful how quick Nature will respond. If a 
measurement of the shrunken member is taken, you will 
know exactly how fast you are progressing; and I venture 
the assertion that in one month, giving a treatment every 
other day, you will have gained from one to two inches. 

One old gentleman treated by us in Baxter Springs, 
Kansas, whose leg had been shrunken for years, grew an 
inch and a half in one month's treatment, measured 
around the ankle. Another, a young man of the same city, 
had his arm restored to usefulness in the same remarkable 
yet simple manner. We would not be understood as saying 
the limb will gain much in length in the adult; the great 
improvement will be noticed in size and strength. 

DYSENTERY, OR BLOODY FLUX. 

Symptoms. 
Dysentery usually commences with severe pains in the 
bowels, with frequent inclination to go to stool; the stools 
are small in quantity and sometimes mixed with blood. 



56 



OSTEOPATHY. 



There is generally a peculiar sensation of bearing down while 
at stool, as if the whole bowels were falling out, accompanied 
with considerable pain. Sometimes chills and fever precede 
the symptoms; in other cases they either accompany them 
or soon follow, if the attack is at all severe. Griping pains 
in the abdomen, followed by discharges from the bowels, 
are the first prominent symptoms. 



CHOLERA MORBUS. 

Symptoms. 
Cholera morbus is a violent purging and vomiting, at- 
tended with gripes and a constant desire to go to stool. It 
comes on suddenly, and is most common in autumn. There 
is hardly any disease that kills more quickly than this when 
proper means are not used in due time for removing it. It 
is generally preceded by heartburn, sour belchings, and 
flatulence, with pain in the stomach and intestines; to these 
succeed excessive vomiting and purging of green, yellow, 
or blackish colored bile, with distention of the stomach and 
violent griping pains. There is likewise great thirst, with 
a very quick unequal pulse, and often a fixed acute pain 
about the region of the navel. As the disease advances, the 
pulse often sinks so low as to become quite imperceptible; 
the extremities grow cold or cramped and are often covered 
with a clammy sweat, the urine is obstructed, and there is 
palpitation of the heart. Violent hiccoughing, fainting, 
and convulsions are the signs of approaching death. 

Cause of Flux and Cholera Morbus. 
Flux and cholera morbus can be cured instantly. Of 
the hundreds of cases treated by us, we have yet to find the 
first that did not respond instantly, and we stand ready to 



OSTEOPATHY. 57 

wager our reputation that there never was and never will be 
a case of either of these diseases that cannot be cured by 
this method of treatment if properly applied. This may 
justly be considered the grandest discovery of this or any 
other age. And we beg the medical fraternity throughout 
our land, who usually look with eyes of skepticism on any- 
thing out of the ordinary, to try this one great principle, which 
is destined to save thousands of lives each year. We trust 
that each and every one who may chance to read these pages 
will remember our treatment for flux. Not because it is more 
reliable than any other great principle laid down in this 
work, but it is so simple and of such vast importance in 
times of need, so infallible, and gives such immediate relief. 

That the reader may gain a correct understanding of 
this great principle, we will return to the anatomy, to the 
machinery of human life. Once more comparing the cerebro- 
spinal cord, the brain, and the nerves to a telegraphic system, 
we will trace the cause of flux and the excited condition of 
the digestive organs directly to the brain. It will be wise, 
in this connection, as some of our readers may not be very 
familiar with anatomy and physiology, to sketch briefly the 
process of digestion. 

Food, when taken into the mouth, undergoes two proc- 
esses, which are inseparable and simultaneous in action, 
being mastication and insalivation. In the short time occu- 
pied by the passage of the food through the oesophagus no 
special change takes place. In the stomach the food is 
mixed with the juices of that organ, and is converted into 
chyme. The chyme begins to leave the stomach through 
the pyloric orfice soon after gastric digestion has begun, 
some passing into the duodenum in about half an hour. The 
materials which resist gastric secretion or are affected very 
slowly by it are retained many hours in the stomach, and 
the pylorus may refuse exit to such materials for an indefi- 



5 8 OSTEOPATHY. 

nite length of time, so that, after causing much uneasiness, 
they are finally removed by^ vomiting. Many solid masses 
escape through the pylorus, however, when it opens to let 
out the chyme. 

The small intestine is a convoluted tube, varying in 
length from twenty to thirty feet, which gradually dimin- 
ishes in size from its commencement to its termination. The 
power which forces the food and chyme through this long 
convoluted tube is called the peristaltic action, and is con- 
trolled by the "main battery," the brain. A wave of con- 
traction passes from the pylorus along the circular fibers 
so as to look like a broad ring of constriction, progressing 
slowly downward. The longitudinal fibers at the same time 
contract so as to shorten the piece of intestine immediately 
below the ring of constriction, and also causes a certain 
amount of rolling movement of those loops of intestine which 
are free enough to move. In flux and cholera morbus this 
peristaltic action becomes increased to an alarming extent. 
Food has been taken into the stomach, to remove which a 
great amount of nerve power is required; and when it is 
finally expelled, and the current still on, we have a machine 
running away with itself. We are as yet unable to deter- 
mine the precise cause of Nature failing to apply her brakes 
and check the current at the proper moment, but we have 
succeeded in locating the point on which a slight pressure of 
the hand will instantly slow up the machine. 

The great splanchnic and right pneumogastric nerves 
form the solar plexus, or great abdominal brain, and control 
the peristaltic action of the bowels. Now it is obvious that 
a pressure on these nerves long enough to break the current 
will check the peristaltic action of the 1 intestines. The 
pneumogastric has a more extensive distribution than any 
of the other cranial nerves. Passing through the neck and 
thorax to the upper part of the abdomen, it is composed of 




Cut 24. 



OSTEOPATHY. 6 1 

both motor and sensory fibers. It supplies the organs of 
voice and respiration with motor and sensory fibers, and 
the pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, and heart with motor 
fibers. It emerges from the cranium through the jugular 
foramen, passes vertically down the neck within the sheath 
of the carotid vessels, lying between the internal carotid 
artery and the external jugular vein as far as the thyroid 
cartilage. Thus it will be seen that it can be reached by 
a strong, steady pressure on the right side of the windpipe, 
as it is commonly called, in the lower part of the neck. The 
right splanchnic nerve will respond to a pressure close to the 
spine between the sixth and seventh ribs. 

While this treatment will cure flux and cholera morbus, 
and was arrived at by studying man as a machine from a 
scientific standpoint, a much simpler method, producing the 
same results, will be given as our infallible mode of treat- 
ing these diseases. 

Flux and Cholera Morbus Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on a stool, the operator standing 
behind. The operator now places his knee on the left side 
of the spine, just below the last rib, grasping the patient's 
shoulders, and draws him gently but firmly backward as far 
as possible (cut 24). Let all motions be slow, allowing the 
patient time to relax the muscles. Ninety per cent of all 
cases will be cured instantly by this one move. In aggra- 
vated cases, where the patient is bedfast, while lying on 
the back place one hand under each side, the fingers pressing 
on each side of the spine just below the last ribs, and two or 
three times slowly raise the patient until only the shoulders 
and pelvis touch the bed. 

2d. Press lightly with the palm of the hand on the 
umbilicus (and stronger as the patient becomes accustomed 
to the pressure) for a minute. 



62 OSTEOPATHY. 

3d. Hold the vasomotor center for two or three min- 
utes, and your patient is out of danger (see cut 5). It( is 
very seldom that anything farther than one backward move- 
ment is necessary. 

Taken suddenly with cholera morbus between St. Louis 
and Kansas City, the writer cured himself instantly by bend- 
ing far backward over the back of the car seat. Any of our 
readers can do likewise. 

While on this subject, we will mention the case of a lady 
at Miami, I. T. We received an urgent call from her husband 
one Tuesday morning, but, being overwhelmed with office 
work, it seemed impossible for us to take the time to drive 
twenty miles into the Indian Nation ; so it was arranged that 
if the drugs of the local doctors failed, and she was still alive, 
we should drive down Friday night. We reached her bedside 
at midnight (Friday night), and found her just alive. We 
treated her once, and in a week she was walking on the streets 
of Miami in perfect/health. 



CRAMP IN THE BOWELS. 

Cramp in the bowels is caused by the too rapid action 
of the intestines, one fold being thrown over another; this 
can usually be instantly cured by bending the patient far 
backward as in flux. In rare cases it will be found neces- 
sary to place the patient on the back and gently but firmly 
knead the bowels, working deep, thus freeing the parts and 
giving immediate relief. 




Cuts. 



OSTEOPATHY. 65 

CRAMP IN THE STOMACH AND VOMITING. 

Treatment. 

1st. Bend the patient backward as in flux. 

2d. Press steadily on the pit of the stomach with the 
palm of the hand for a moment. 

3d. Place the knee between the shoulders, raising the 
arms high above the head (see cut 2). 

4th. Permit the patient to lie on the back, and, reaching 
over as in cut 8, with each of the lingers close to the spine, 
between and a little below the scapulas (shoulder-blades), 
press strongly a moment, after which hold the vasomotor 
center (see cut 5, page 41). 

This treatment will cure the most aggravated cases, 
usually in a few moments. It will be observed that we are 
working here on the splanchnic nerves, which are in direct 
communication with the stomach. 

CHRONIC DIARRHEA. 

Symptoms. 
Simple diarrhea, remaining uncured for some time, 
becomes chronic. 

Treatment. 
Our flux and cholera morbus treatment will give im- 
mediate relief, and, if continued for from three to six weeks, 
a complete! and permanent cure. It is rarely necessary to 
ask the assistance of a friend in treating this disorder. Place 
the thumbs close to the spine, one on each side and im- 
mediately below the last rib, and while pressing hard lean as 
far backward as possible; move the thumbs down one inch 
and lean backward; repeat this until the lumbar vertebrae 
are reached. Treatment should be given once each day; it 



66 OSTEOPATHY. 

will take but a moment, and has never been known to fail. 
Many cases have been cured by us in a few treatments, 
dating as far back as the late war. 



CONSTIPATION AND TORPID LIVER 

Symptoms. 
While we admit that constipation is not desirable, and 
may almost invariably be avoided, yet persons thus predis- 
posed are generally long-lived, unless they commit suicide 
by purgative medicines, while those who are subject to 
frequent attacks of diarrhea are soon debilitated. A daily 
action of the bowels is no doubt desirable in most cases, but 
by no means invariably so. An evacuation may take place 
daily, or every second day, or even every third day, in per- 
sons who are equally healthy. There is no invariable rule 
applying to all persons. Purgation produced by drugs is 
an unnatural condition, and although temporary relief often 
follows the use of aperients, they tend to disorganize the 
parts on which their force is chiefly expended. The intes- 
tinal canal is not a smooth, hard tube, through which can be 
forced whatever it contains without injury; it is part of a 
living organism, and needs no force to propel its contents on 
their way ; nor can such force be applied with impunity. Not 
only does the frequent use of purgatives overstimulate the 
liver and pancreas, but also and especially the numerous 
secretory glands which cover the extensive surface of the 
intestinal canal, forcing them to pour out their contents in 
such excessive quantities as to weaken and impair their 
functions, and so produce a state of general debility. The 
normal action of the stomach and intestinal canal being thus 
suspended, nausea, vomiting, griping, and even fainting, are 
produced; the brain and vital energies are disturbed, occa- 



OSTEOPATHY. 



6 7 



sioning lowness of spirits and melancholy, alternating with 
mental excitement and peculiar irritability of temper. 

Cause. 

We will now endeavor to prove to the satisfaction of 
our readers that, viewing man as a machine, constipation 
can be traced to its true cause, and cured by an application 
of the never-failing principles of Osteopathy. The digestive 
organs in constipation may be compared to an electric car 
with the current partially cut off; with a light load it might 
possibly work in a feeble, halting manner, while the slender 
wire transmits the power to move the heavy car. The 
dynamo generates that power ; break the connection, and the 
car stops. So is the human being; the brain is the great 
generator, the center of all power. Stop for one instant 
the current on these slender nerves, and the heavy muscles 
of the giant are weaker ( than those of a tiny child. There 
is one peculiarity about the nerves which is liable to lead 
one astray, and that is the fact that a pressure on the main 
trunk of a nerve causes no pain at that point, but at the ex- 
tremity of the nerve,, 

In constipation we find the intercostal and spinal mus- 
cles contracted from the fifth dorsal vertebra and fifth rib 
to the eighth. The sixth or seventh rib will be turned 
slightly, and either the muscles or rib pressing on the 
splanchnic nerves (which, with the pneumogastric, control 
the abdomen), thus depriving the intestines of half their 
motor power. Taking physic for constipation is like whip- 
ping a weak, half-starved horse. He will go just as long as 
you continue to apply the whip, but is left in a more enfeebled 
condition after each application of the lash. Would it not 
be more human and sensible to increase his feed and reduce 
his load, as we now propose doing with the splanchnic 
nerve? 



68 OSTEOPATHY. 

By relaxing the contracted muscles we not only allow 
the ribs to spring back, thus releasing the nerve, but also 
permit the blood to pass down and supply the! nerve with 
food, and in a comparatively short time it will be able to 
once more convey the current that will start the peristaltic 
action of the bowels, and also furnish a motor power to the 
sluggish liver and pancreas, enabling those organs to resume 
their work. As am obstruction to the nerve force of the 
splanchnic system not only weakens the peristaltic action 
of the bowels, but also the action of the liver, that great 
chemical laboratory; placed on the highway by which the 
great majority of material absorbed from the intestines 
reaches the blood, it is obviously in a position to act as the 
guardian of the blood's purity and health. It certainly in 
some respects performs this duty, for many poisons, when 
introduced into the digestive tract, are stopped by the liver, 
and, if their amount be not excessive, are elimated with the 
bile. But we have no reason to believe that this enormous 
mass of protoplasm is placed in this peculiar position in the 
circulation to preside over much more important duties than 
that of a mere gatekeeper. Many if not all of the absorbed 
materials are found tOi be altered during their visit to the 
liver. In fact, we must regard this organ as the great 
chemical laboratory of the blood, where many important 
analyses are made. It has an immense double blood-supply; 
it receives all the blood of the portal veins coming from the 
digestive tract and spleen. This supply of blood varies 
much in amount; after meals, it equals one-fourth of all the 
blood in the body. Among the many important functions 
of the liver are the formation of the urea and uric acid and 
the secretion of the bile. Its failure to supply in sufficient 
quantities the latter (which is mixed in the abdomen with 
the pancreatic juice, to assist in digesting the food) is one of 



OSTEOPATHY. 



69 



the secondary causes of constipation ; another is the inability 
of the pancreas, through lack of nerve-force, to do its part in 
furnishing pancreatic juice. Thus, when we turn the cur- 
rent on the splanchnic, we start a three-horse team, which, 
pulling together in perfect harmony, will safely carry our 
constipated friend to the highway of perfect health. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the side and proceed to free 
all the muscles of the spine on each side as low T as the 
twelfth dorsal vertebra. Let the arm of the patient rest on 
that of the operator, the patient's elbow pressing against the 
humerus, forming a lever with which the muscles of the 
scapula (shoulder-blade) can be manipulated. With the 
fingers between the spine and scapula, pressing hard, move 
the scapula and muscles under the fingers upward (see cut 3), 
being particular not to let the hand slip over the muscles, 
but to move them. After each upward motion, move the 
fingers down an inch, until the last dorsal vertebra is 
reached, taking care not to work lower than the last rib. 

2d. With the patient lying on the back, grasp the 
right wrist with the right hand, drawing the arm slowly but 
with some strength high above the head, at the same time 
placing the left hand between the shoulder-blades on the 
right side of th^ spine, about two inches below the upper 
part of the shoulder-blades, pressing hard as the arm comes 
up; lower the! arm, the elbow passing below and at the 
side of the table. Repeat, moving the hand down the spine 
one inch every time, until you have reached the tenth dorsal 
vertebra, which will be found one inch below the inferior 
angle of the scapula. 



7 o OSTEOPATHY. 

3d. Knead the bowels (cut 9), beginning on the right 
side and at the lower portion of the abdomen, close to the 
bone, and immediately over the ileo-csecal valve. Work 
lightly at first, gradually using more strength, following the 
ascending colon upward from its commencement at the 
caecum to the under surface of the liver on the right side of 
the gall-bladder, where it bends abruptly to the left, forming 
the hepatic flexure; it now becomes the transverse colon, 
and passes transversely across the abdomen from right to 
left, where it curves downward beneath the lower end of the 
spleen, forming the splenic flexure. The descending colon 
passes almost vertically downward to the upper part of the 
left iliac fossa, where it terminates in the sigmoid flexure. 
The sigmoid flexure is the narrowest part of the colon. It 
is situated in the left iliac fossa, commencing at the termina- 
tion of the descending colon at the margin of the crest of 
the ilium, and ending in the rectum opposite the left sacro- 
iliac symphysis. Worki across the abdomen, following the 
transverse colon and down the descending and sigmoid por- 
tions to the rectum. Next knead the small intestine, which 
is contained in the central lower part of the abdominal 
cavity, surrounded above and at the sides by the colon or 
large intestine. 

This treatment should be given every other day, and can 
be administered in fifteen minutes. It will cure the most 
stubborn cases of constipation or torpid liver. Care should 
be taken to work as deep and as far under the ribs as pos- 
sible. Children and young people are often cured in a 
single treatment, but the average time required for a cure 
is from two to six weeks. In very stubborn cases it is well 
to flush the bowels once or twice, until Nature begins to act. 
This treatment, if applied as directed, will be found infallible. 




Cut 9. 



OSTEOPATHY. 73 

DYSPEPSIA (INDIGESTION). 

Symptoms. 

These vary greatly, both in character and intensity, but 
there is commonly one or more of the following: impaired 
appetite, flatulence, and nausea; eructations, which often 
bring up bitter or acid fluids; furred tongue, often flabby, 
large, or indented at the sides; foul taste or breath and heart- 
burn; pain and a sensation of weight and inconvenience or 
fullness after a meal; irregular action of the bowels; head- 
ache, diminished mental energy and alertness, and dejection 
of spirits; palpitation of the heart or great vessels, and 
various affections in other organs. 

Cause. 

Dyspepsia, or indigestion, is usually caused by a con- 
stipated condition of the bow^els, which, becoming over- 
loaded, hinder the action of the stomach until the glands of 
that organ become diseased. Thus we are again confronted 
with the parallel of an electric car, which, having lost its 
current, obstructs the main track. We expect to prove to 
the intelligent reader that when the peristaltic action of the 
small intestine loses part of its nerve-power, occasioned by 
a pressure on the splanchnic center at or near the spine, the 
foundation is laid not only for constipation, liver complaint, 
and various stomach and kidney troubles, but by blocking 
the main track, one organ after another becomes diseased, 
and finally the stomach, bloated or filled with gas, presses 
so hard upon the diaphragm, compressing the left lung, that 
it affects even the lungs and heart. Many cases of heart 
trouble we have traced directly to this cause, and cured by 
working on these never-failing principles. 

—6— 



74 



OSTEOPATHY. 



Treatment. 



1st. Treat the patient as in constipation, except knead- 
ing the bowels, which should be omitted when constipation 
is not present. 

2d. Stand behind the patient, and, raising the right 
arm high above the head, lifting strong, press hard with the 
left thumb on the fourth dorsal vertebra, lowering the arm 
with a backward motion. This pressure reaches nerves that 
control the pyloric valve, causing the pyloric orifice to open 
and permit gases and undigested food to pass into the 
duodenum. 

Four weeks' treatment should cure any case of this 
complaint. 

BRIGHT'S DISEASE. 

Symptoms. 
Dropsy of the upper as well as low r er parts of the body, 
the hands and feet as well as face being swollen; a dry, harsh 
skin; quick, hard pulse; thirst, and often sickness from sym- 
pathy of the stomach with the kidneys. There is frequent 
desire to pass water, which is scanty, highly colored or 
smoky-looking, albuminous, and of high specific gravity. 

KIDNEY DISEASE, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE 
KIDNEYS. 

Symptoms. 
Disease of the kidneys may be distinguished from colic 
and other similar affections by the pain being far back, and 
by the urine being of a deep red color, voided frequently and 
in small quantities. It may be distinguished from rheuma- 
tism by the pain not being increased by motion. This disease 



OSTEOPATHY. 75 

is attended with a sharp pain on the affected side, with much 
difficulty in passing urine; the bowels are costive; the skin 
is hot; the patient feels great uneasiness when he attempts 
to walk or sit upright, and lies with most ease on the affected 
side. Eemission of the pain, discharge of high-colored 
mucous urine, sweating, or a flow of blood from the hem- 
orrhoidal veins, passed in the stools, are favorable symptoms. 

The Kidneys. 

The kidneys, two in number, are situated in the back 
part of the abdomen, and are for the purpose of separating 
from the blood certain materials which, when dissolved in a 
quantity of water, also separated from the blood by the kid- 
neys, constitutes the urine. They are placed in the loins, 
one on each side of the vertebral column; their upper ex- 
tremity is on a level with the upper border of the twelfth 
dorsal vertebra, and their lower extremity on a level with 
the third lumbar vertebra. The right kidney is usually on 
a lower level than the left, probably on account of the 
vicinity of the liver. Each kidney is about four inches in 
length and two to two and one-half in breadth; they are a 
little over an inch in thickness. The kidney is plentifully 
supplied with blood by the renal artery, a large offset of the 
abdominal aorta. The nerves, although small, are about 
fifteen in number. They communicate with the spermatic 
plexus, a circumstance which may explain the occurrence 
of pain in the testicle in affections of the kidneys. It will 
be remembered that urea and uric acid are formed in the 
tiver and transmitted from that organ to the kidneys. Thus 
it will be seen that with a diseased liver we cannot have 
healthy kidneys. While we have as yet been unable to cure 
Bright's disease, diabetes, and troubles of the bladder and 
kidneys caused by stricture, all other urinary troubles can 



76 OSTEOPATHY. 

be immediately cured, and those just mentioned generally 
benefited, by the following treatment. 

Treatment for Kidney Troubles. 

1st. Place the patient on the side, and, if the kidneys 
are inactive, begin at the sixth dorsal vertebra, with the ends 
of the fingers close to the spine, moving the muscles upward 
and outward, working deep the entire length of the spine 
on each side. This treatment excites the nerves to renewed 
action and increases the action of the blood, thus nourishing 
the weakened parts and giving them more strength to act. 

2d. The kidneys should be kneaded gently at first, and 
gradually with a stronger force. It is indeed surprising how 
rapidly a patient will recover under this treatment. 

3d. When the kidneys are too active, a steady pressure 
should be given from the twelfth dorsal vertebra to the last 
lumbar vertebra, close to the spine, in any manner most con- 
venient to the operator. 

4th. Place the patient on the face, and, while pressing 
hard on the sacrum immediately below the small of the back, 
raise the limbs from the table as high as the patient can bear 
without too much inconvenience, moving them gently from 
side to side (see cut 10). Mothers wiiose children have no 
control over the urine can cure them entirely of this annoy- 
ing trouble, in one or two treatments, by pressing on the 
sacrum close to the last lumbar vertebra and raising the 
limbs as shown in cut 10. 

This treatment is as reliable as mathematics. Among 
the many cases cured by us of this trouble we will mention 
our first experience in this line. A young man of Kirksville, 
Mo., hearing that we w r ere investigating this subject, called 
at our office, aaid, after explaining that he had no control 
over his urine and had been expending all his earnings in 
vain hope of relief, asked us to take his case. Not having 




Cut 10. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



79 



a table at that time, we caused him to lie on his stomach on 
the floor, and, placing the right foot between his thighs and 
the left on the sacrum, with an ankle in either hand, we raised 
the limbs, sprung down the sacrum, and asked him to call 
again on the second day. While administering the third treat- 
ment we inquired as to results, and were not only gratified, 
but surprised, to learn that he had had no trouble since the 
first treatment. Two years later the young man was still in 
perfect health. We might mention also a gentleman 82 years 
of age, of Lewiston, Mo., troubled with this disease for over 
thirty years. He was entirely cured in four weeks by this 
method of treatment. 



ENLARGED SPLEEN. 

Symptoms. 
This disease is characterized by a sharp or chill pain 
beneath the lower left ribs; with more or less tenderness 
on external pressure; in some instances there is very little 
pain, simply a feeling of weight or fullness, which is worse 
when the patient lies on the affected side. The attack is 
generally accompanied by chills and fever, and sometimes 
there is nausea and vomiting, cough, difficulty of breathing, 
and hiccough. The spleen often becomes enlarged so as to, 
be felt beneath the lower left ribs. 

The Spleen. 

The spleen is situated under cover of the ribs of the 
left side, being separated from them by the diaphragm (the 
great muscle of respiration), and above by a small portion 
of the left lung. Its position corresponds to the ninth, 
tenth, and eleventh ribs. We find that enlargement of the 
spleen and other splenic troubles are caused by a contraction 



80 OSTEOPATHY, 

of the muscles of these ribs and a consequent settling of one 
or all of the ribs mentioned upon the spleen. Sharp pains 
in this region are from the same cause, and can be instantly 
relieved, and in a few weeks cured, by our treatment for 
enlargement of the spleen. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the right side, and loosen 
all the muscles over and around the eighth, ninth, tenth, 
eleventh, and twelfth ribs from the spinal column to the 
median line in front, always moving the muscles upward 
and not permitting the flesh to slip under the hand. 

2d. Place the patient on a stool, the thumb of the right 
hand on the angle of the rib at fault, and roll the arm slowly 
but very strongly high above the head ; lower the arm with a 
backward motion; at the same instant, with the thumb of the 
right hand, spring the rib forward off the spleen (see cut 11). 

This treatment usually gives immediate relief, and in 
from two to four weeks will effect a cure. 



HEART DISEASE. 

Symptoms. 

The patient is seized with a sudden dreadful pain, which 
centers in the heart and extends over more or less of the 
anterior portion of the chest, up the shoulder, and down 
the arm. There is an agonizing sense of anxiety, faintness, 
and fear of instant death, palpitation, and difficulty of 
breathing, so that, if walking, he is compelled to stop and 
to fix on the first object that offers support, and so remains, 
pale and covered with a clammy perspiration. The parox- 
ysms may terminate in a few T minutes or last for hours, and 




Cut 11. 



OSTEOPATHY. 83 

are liable to recur with increased severity till at length one 
proves fatal. 

The Heart. 
The heart is a hollow, muscular organ, of a conical form, 
placed between the lungs and enclosed in the cavity of the 
pericardium. The heart is placed obliquely in the chest, the 
broad attached end or base upward, backward, and to the 
right, and corresponds to the interval between the fifth and 
eighth dorsal vertebrae; the apex is directed dowmward, for- 
ward, and to the left, and corresponds to the space between 
the cartilages of the fifth and sixth ribs, three-quarters of 
an inch to the inner side and an inch and a half below the 
left nipple. The heart is placed behind the lower two-thirds 
of the sternum, and projects farther into the left than into 
the right cavity of the chest, extending from the median line 
about three inches in the former direction and only one and 
one-half inches in the latter. The heart in the adult 
measures five inches in length, three inches and a half in 
the broadest part, and two inches and a half in thickness. 
The average weight in the male varies from ten to tw r elve 
ounces, and in the female from eight to ten. The heart con- 
tinues to increase in weight, also in length, breadth, and 
thickness, up to an advanced period of life. The heart of 
man and warm-blooded animals may be said to be made up 
of two muscular sacs, the pulmonary and systemic pumps, 
or, as they are commonly called, the right and left sides of 
the heart. Between these no communication exists after 
birth. Each of these sacs may be divided into two chambers. 
One, acting as an ante-chamber, receives the blood from the 
veins; it has very thin walls, and is called the auricle; the 
other, the ventricle, is the powerful muscular chamber which 
pumps the blood into and distends the arteries. It has been 
found that stimulation of the cervical portion of the spinal 



8 4 



OSTEOPATHY. 



cord causes quickening of the heart-beat, while a steady pres- 
sure on the same nerve-centers slows the action of the heart. 
It is thus that in fever, working from this center, we slow 
the heart's action, and are thereby enabled to reduce any 
fever in an incredibly short time. 

We will now for a moment touch' upon the arteries and 
veins, my object being to prove to my readers that the heart, 
arteries, and veins are simply different parts of the same 
machine, and that the contraction of a muscle, throwing a 
pressure on an artery or vein, will affect the heart, on the 
same principle that a force-pump attached to a rubber hose 
would be affected should you stand on the hose. The chan- 
nels which carry the blood through the body form a closed 
system of elastic tubes, which may be divided into three 
varieties: arteries, capillaries, and veins. The arteries are 
those vessels that carry the blood from the heart to the 
capillaries. The great trunk of the aorta springs from the 
left ventricle and gives off a series of branches, which in 
turn subdivide more and more freely in proportion to their 
distance from the heart. The aorta is divided into the arch, 
ascending and descending portions. The descending aorta 
is divided into two portions, the thoracic and abdominal, 
in correspondence with the two great cavities of the trunk 
in which it is situated. The thoracic aorta commences at 
the lower border of the fourth dorsal vertebra on the left 
side, and terminates at the aortic opening in the diaphragm, 
in front of the last dorsal vertebra. The abdominal aorta 
commences at the aortic opening in the diaphragm^ in front 
of the body of the last dorsal vertebra, and, descending a 
little to the left of the vertebral column, terminates opposite 
the body of the fourth lumbar vertebra, where it divides into 
the right and left common iliac arteries. The common 
iliac arteries are about] two inches in length, and divide 
opposite the intervertebral substance of the last lumbar 



OSTEOPATHY. 85 

vertebra and sacrum, into the internal and external iliac 
arteries, the latter supplying the lower extremities. The 
external iliac artery passes obliquely downward and outward 
along the inner border of the psoas muscle from the bifurca- 
tion of the common iliac arteries to Poupart's ligament, where 
it enters the thigh and becomes the femoral artery. The 
femoral artery commences immediately behind Poupart's 
ligament, midway between the anterior and superior spine 
of the ilium and the symphysis pubis, and, passing down 
the front and inner part of the thigh, terminates at the 
opening of the adductor magnus muscle at the junction of 
the middle with the lower third of the thigh, wiiere it becomes 
the popliteal artery. The popliteal artery commences at the 
termination of the femoral at the opening in the adductor 
magnus, and, passing obliquely downward and outward 
behind the knee-joint to the low r er border of the popliteus 
muscle, divides into the anterior and posterior tibial arteries. 
The anterior tibial artery passes forward between the two 
heads of the tibialus posticus to the deep part of the front 
of the leg; then descends on the anterior surface of the inter- 
osseous membrane, gradually approaching the tibia, and at 
the lower part of the leg lies on the bone, and then on the 
anterior ligament of the ankle to the bend of the ankle- 
joint, where it lies more superficially and becomes the dor- 
salis pedis. This artery passes forward from the bend of 
the ankle along the tibial side of the foot, and terminates 
in two small branches, the dorsalis hallucis and communica- 
ting. The posterior tibial artery is of large size, and passes 
obliquely downward from the lower border of the popliteus 
muscle along the tibial side of the leg to the fossa between 
the ankle and the heel, where it divides into the internal and 
external plantar arteries. 

Now, having traced this river of blood, which throws 



86 OSTEOPATHY. 

branches to each organ and muscle in its course from the 
heart to its termination in the lower extremities, passing as 
it does through, over, under, and between the numerous 
muscles on its journey, it will not be hard for the intelligent 
reader to believe that an obstruction to its free flow, caused 
by contracted muscles, would affect the heart. Cramping of 
the muscles is so very common, often leaving the muscles 
in ridges, that the most skeptical will not dispute the fact 
that muscles will contract and remain in that condition. 
The heavy muscles of the thigh and those below and about 
the knee, from their peculiar relation to the artery and their 
great strength, are usually at fault, and by a simple twist 
of the leg, throwing these muscles on a strain, and thereby 
freeing the femoral artery, we have cured cases of heart 
disease that had baffled the best physicians of modern times. 

Treatment. 

First ascertain if the patient has cold extremities; such 
being the case, the trouble is necessarily along the line of the 
artery, and the heart trouble corresponds to the illustration 
of pump and rubber hose when the hose is obstructed. 

1st. Place the patient on the back, and, grasping the 
ankle in the right hand, flex the leg against the chest, slowly 
but strongly; while pressing it hard against the chest, rotate 
if from right to left as in cut G. Bring it to its full 
length, turning the knee in and foot out with a light jerk 
(cut 7). This should be repeated with each limb two or three 
times at each treatment. 

2d. Flex the knees, place the feet together, and, with 
one hand on each knee, spread the knees as far apart as 
possible, thus stretching the adductor muscles (see cut 12). 

3d. Placing one hand on each side of the thigh, close 
to the body, move all the flesh, very deep, from right to left, 
the entire length of the limb (cut 13). 




Cut 12. 




Cut 13- 



OSTEOPATHY. 



91 



4th. Grasp the foot, and, while rotating the limb, pull 
slowly but strongly. 

We guarantee that any case of cold limbs accompanied 
by heart trouble, or in which the organic difficulty is not yet 
perceptible, can be cured in from two to four weeks by 
this treatment, which should not take over ten minutes 
each time, and should be given every other day. 



"ENLARGEMENT OF THE HEART," ETC. 

Heart disease is often caused by constipation and a 
diseased condition of the alimentary canal. Those cases can 
be readily distinguished, as the patient will find great 
difficulty in breathing when in a recumbent position, and 
upon resuming an upright position will feel immediate relief, 
thus proving that the organs are distended to such an extent 
that there is at all times a pressure on the diaphragm left 
lung, and heart, and that their own weight when in an upright 
position will partially free the last named organs. It will 
be readily understood that out constipation or indigestion 
treatment, or both, as the case may seem to require, will cure 
this form of heart disease, as it has done in hundreds of cases. 
Other cases, and they are very numerous, are caused by 
a contraction of the muscles, depressing the ribs immedi- 
ately over the heart, thus interfering with its action. We 
are led to believe that there are very few cases of actual 
"enlargement of the heart," but that the so-called "enlarge- 
ment of the heart" is really a compression of the cavity in 
which the heart is contained. 

Treatment for "Enlargement of the Heart." 

1st. Free all the muscles attached to the ribs immedi- 
ately over the heart, from the spine to the median line, on 



92 



OSTEOPATHY, 



each side, always moving the flesh upward, using the arm 
as a lever in treating the muscles of the spine (cut 3). 

2d. Place the patient on the back, one operator grasp- 
ing each wrist; placing the disengaged hand between the 
patient's shoulders, the fingers pressing hard upon the angle 
of the rib between the spine and scapula, draw the arms 
slowly, but with some strength, high above the head; move 
the hands down one inch, and repeat until you have reached 
the lower angle of the scapula. 

This will usually give instant relief, and never fails to 
effect a cure in from two to four weeks' treatment. A treat- 
ment should be given every other day. 

Of the many cases cured by us in this manner, it might 
be well to mention an old gentleman of Galena, Kansas, As 
a drowning man will grasp at a straw, when he was dying 
and nearly all hope had fled, we were called in, and, in the 
presence of two medical doctors and the members of his 
family, we raised his ribs, thus permitting the heart to act. 
In a few minutes we had our patient out of danger. We will 
also add that he never after had any difficulty with his heart. 



, FEEBLE ACTION OF THE HEART. 

This trouble is caused by an almost imperceptible con- 
traction of all the muscles, thus interfering with the entire 
circulation. An aching, tired sensation, so often felt, is 
caused by the contracting muscles, as is readily proven 
beyond the shadow of a doubt by the fact that after a general 
treatment, stretching and moving all the muscles, permit- 
ting the sluggish blood to move more rapidly through the 
arteries and veins, the heart's action is increased and the 
tired, aching, worn sensation has entirely disappeared. 



OSTEOPATHY. 93 

General Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the side, using the arm as a 
lever (cut 3), with the fingers pressing rather hard close to 
the spine; beginning at the first dorsal vertebra, free all the 
muscles the entire length of the spinal column. Have the 
patient turn over, and treat the other side in a similar manner. 

2d. Flex the limbs against the chest, the patient lying 
on the back; rotate the leg from right to left two or three 
times, extending with a light jerk (cuts 6 and 7). 

3d. Grasp the thighs firmly with one hand on each side, 
the fingers meeting; beginning close to 1 the body, move the 
flesh, to the bone if possible, from right to left, the entire 
length of the limb (cut 13). 

4th. Place the patient on a stool, the operator standing 
at his back, and, placing the knee between patient's shoul- 
ders, grasp the wrists and raise the arms strongly high above 
the head (see cut 2); at this time the patient will inhale, 
filling the lungs with air; lower the arms with a backward 
motion. 

5th. Place one hand under the chin, the other under 
back of the head, and pull gently, rotating the head from 
side to side (cut 4). 

6th. Placing one hand on each side of the neck, the 
fingers almost meeting at the back of the neck, close to the 
head and the breadth of four fingers down the neck, press 
gently on the vasomotor center (see cut 5) for a few 
moments, to quiet the nerves. 

This treatment will require not over fifteen minutes, 
and should be given every other day. We guarantee it to 
give immediate relief, and, if continued for from two to four 
weeks, a permanent cure will be effected. 

Of the numerous cases cured by our general treatment, 
we will mention that of an old gentleman brought to us in 



94 OSTEOPATHY. 

Galena, Kansas. He could not climb the steps to our office. 
We treated him on the counter in a grocery store near by. 
His pulse, which was hardly perceptible, was down to 38. 
When he came for his second treatment, two days later, his 
pulse was strong and had increased to 58. He could hear 
better, and recognized people on the street for the first time 
in months 

DROPSY. 

Symptoms. 

Dropsy is watery accumulation in the areolar tissue 
more or less generally throughout the body. It is of two 
distinct varieties, for, besides its occurrence in the meshes 
of the loose tissue beneath the skin, it may take place as a 
local dropsy in any of the natural cavities or sacs of the body, 
and is named according to the parts involved. 

Partial dropsy is always due to excessive venous reple- 
tion, and this overdistention of the small veins is the result 
of some mechanical impediment to the venous circulation. 
Dropsy due to obstructed portal circulation may be recog- 
nized by the following clinical characters: It begins in the 
abdomen; difficult breathing follows, but does not precede 
the ascites. There is a tendency to vomiting, diarrhea, and 
piles; further, the spleen becomes enlarged and there are 
varicose veins on the right side of the abdomen. 

Dropsy at first partial, but afterwards becoming general, 
commences in the feet and extends upward, and this is also 
due to excessive venous repletion from obstructed venous 
circulation. 

Dropsical swellings are soft, inelastic, diffused, and 
leave, for some time, the indentation made by the pressure 
of a finger. In chronic cases and when the swelling is very 



OSTEOPATHY. 95 

great the skin becomes smooth, glassy, and of a dull red or 
purple color, and where the skin is less elastic it becomes 
livid or blackish and troublesome, even gangrenous, or 
sloughs may form. 

In treating dropsy, of whatever organ, it is necessary 
to use such remedies as will act on the kidneys and skin and 
excite them to increased activity ; the result of this activity 
is to diminish the fluids which have collected in one or 
another part of the body and remain there unabsorbed, and 
cause them to be taken up by the kidneys or thrown off by 
the skin, and thus carried out of the system through the 
aa/tural outlets. Any remedy that accomplishes this object 
effectively cures dropsy occuring in any part of the body. 

Cause of Dropsy. 
That the reader may gain a more correct understanding 
of our method of treating dropsy, viewing the human body as 
a machine, we will once more refer to the anatomy. Having 
followed this river of blood from the heart to its termination, 
we must now trace it back to the heart and endeavor to 
locate along its channel the cause of dropsy and consequent 
heart trouble. The frequently branching arteries finally 
terminate in the capillaries, in which distinct branches can 
no longer be recognized, but their channels are interwoven 
into a network, the meshes of which are made up of vessels 
all having the same caliber. They communicate with the 
capillary network of the neighboring arteries, so that any 
given capillary area appears to be one continuous net of 
tubules connected here and there with a similar network 
from distant arterioles, and thus any given capillary area 
may be fed with blood from several different sources. 

Veins. 
The veins arise from the capillary network, commencing 
as radicles, which correspond to the ultimate distribution 



9 6 



OSTEOPATHY. 



of the arterioles, but they soon form wider and more 
numerous channels. They rapidly congregate together, 
making comparatively large vessels, which frequently inter- 
communicate and form coarse and irregular flexures. Thus 
it will be seen that we have two rivers, one distributing, the 
other gathering up and returning the blood to the heart. 
While a pressure on an artery, cutting off the supply to 
the extremities, causes them to be cold, at the same time 
affecting the heart, a pressure on a vein, stopping the return 
current, will necessitate an engorgement of the blood in the 
capillaries; the heart, working against heavy odds in trying 
to force the blood past the contracted muscles, will certainly 
be affected, while the stagnant blood, unable to escape, will 
cause either inflammatory rheumatism, dropsy, or erysipelas. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the side and move all the 
muscles of the spine very deep from the tenth dorsal to the 
last sacral vertebra. This will excite the nerves which con- 
trol the kidneys to renewed action, thereby enabling them 
to separate the immense amount of water about to be poured 
into them from the blood. 

2d. Give general treatment (page 32), being very care- 
ful to stretch all the muscles near the affected parts. 

In a very short time, usually from two to six days, the 
kidneys will begin to act very freely, throwing off the 
decomposed and watery particles of blood, while in from two 
to six weeks the patient will be entirely well. 

Of numerous cases cured by us of dropsy we will men- 
tion that of a lady of Joplin, Missouri, whose case had not 
only been treated by the best physicians of her own cit^, 
but those of Kansas City and St. Louis. She came to us in 
a hopeless condition; her abdomen, limbs, and feet were 



OSTEOPATHY. 



97 



swollen to more than twice their normal size. After the 
second general treatment, she began to improve rapidly, and 
; n ten days her ankle could be spanned by the thumb and 
angers; in one month the dropsy had entirely disappeared. 
She gained strength rapidly, and in a short time had 
entirely regained her health. 

Another remarkable case was that of an old gentleman 
of Baxter Springs, Kansas, who had been for five years 
gradually losing the use of his lower limbs, and during the 
last year dropsy had made its appearance. After the second 
general treatment, the dropsy had almost entirely disap- 
peared; his limbs regained their long-lost strength, and he 
would leap about the office like a boy in an ecstasy of delight, 
kicking higher than the doctor's head and springing from the 
floor to our operating-table with apparent ease. 



GENEKAL DEBILITY. 

While we cannot roll back the vail of years, w T e propose 
to prove to our friends in advanced life that we can at least 
make them feel quite young again. In old age the muscles, 
arteries, and, in fact, all the organs, are prone to ossify. The 
muscles become contracted and stiff, thus interfering with 
the free flow of blood, and limy deposits form around the 
joints. It! is but reasonable and natural that our general 
treatment (page 32) which stretches and frees all themuscles, 
ligaments, and joints, causing the blood to run faster and 
the heart to beat stronger, would be especially applicable. 
It has been tested and proven times without number, and 
we feel that we can safely assert without fear of contra- 
diction that our general treatment with the aged and infirm 
never has and never will fail to give gratifying results. 



98 



OSTEOPATHY. 



We will mention in this connection the case of a gentle- 
man eighty-one years of age, of Miami, Indian Territory, in 
whom the machinery of life had nearly run down. His sons, 
hearing of some of our rather remarkable cures, brought the 
old man in, much against his will, for treatment. He was car- 
ried into our office and laid upon the table. After an ex- 
amination, we pronounced the case hopeless, as we did not 
think there was enough vitality left to respond to the treat- 
ment and once more resume control of the machinery of life. 
However, we administered a general treatment, and were 
as much surprised as his sons to see the old gentleman get up 
and walk dow T n stairs unassisted. In three weeks he was 
restored to health and threw away the cane he had carried 
for thirty years. Being a man of undoubted veracity and 
well known throughout the Indian Territory and southern 
Kansas, his seemingly miraculous restoration to health 
through this method gave us quite an enviable reputation 
through that section of the country. Sometimes, when weary 
and annoyed by many questions put to him regarding our 
method, he would tell the people that he was no walking 
advertisement 

That the young as well as the old can be benefited by this 
general treatment has been proved in numerous instances, 
after all other known methods have failed. One case we will 
mention is that of a child eighteen months old. Her cold, 
emaciated limbs, and the eruptions on her face and neck 
and in the ears, told too plainly to be misunderstood the 
story of contracted muscles and of stagnant blood. Although 
the little sufferer was so low that her case seemed almost 
hopeless, she. was cured in four treatments, given every sec- 
ond day, and is now a healthy child. 



OSTEOPATHY. 9 c 

FEVER AND AGUE. 

Symptoms. 

This disease may be divided into three stages: the cold 
stage, the hot stage, the sweating stage. 

Cold Stage. — An intermitting feyer generally begins 
with pain in the head and loins, weariness of the limbs, 
coldness of the extremities, stretching, yawning, with some- 
times great sickness and vomiting, to which succeed shiver- 
ing and violent shaking; respiration is short, frequent, and 
anxious. 

Hot Stage. — After a longer or shorter continuance of 
shivering, the heat of the body gradually returns — irreg- 
ularly at first, and by transient flushes, soon succeeded by 
a steady dry and burning heat, considerably augmenting 
above the natural standard; the skin, which before was pale 
and constricted, becomes swollen, tense, and red; pain is 
felt in the head and various parts of the body; the pulse is 
quick, strong, and hard; the tongue white, the thirst great, 
and the urine high-colored. 

Sweating Stage. — A moisture is observed, the heat falls, 
the pulse diminishes and becomes full and free, and all the 
functions are restored to their natural order. 

CONGESTIVE CHILLS. 

Symptoms. 

These are only an aggravated form of chills and fever, 
and are sometimes called "sinking chills." 

We guarantee our general treatment to cure chills and 
fever and congestive chills in from two to six days, and to 
give immediate relief in all cases, even after all other known 
methods have failed. The almost imperceptible contraction 



IOO OSTEOPATHY. 

of muscles not only checks the warm blood, thus producing 
the chill, but also causes the bones to ache. The patient 
will unconsciously stretch, thus gaining momentary relief. 
When the muscles finally relax, freeing the pent-up blood, 
it rushes to the head and through the arteries too rapidly; 
thus the accompanying fever is produced. 

Treatment. 
Give general treatment (page 32), if possible, just before 
the chill; hold the vasomotor center (cut 5), which causes 
the arteries to contract, thus slowing the heart's action, only 
when fever is perceptible. In ordinary cases there will be 
but one light chill after the first treatment. 



BRAIN FEVER. 

Symptoms. 
The symptoms which usually precede brain fever are 
pain in the head, redness of the eyes, a violent flushing of 
the face, disturbed sleep or a total want of it, great dryness 
of the skin, costiveness, retention of the urine, a small drop- 
ping of blood from the nose, singing in the ears, and extreme 
sensibility of the nervous system. The pulse is often weak, 
irregular, and trembling, but sometimes is hard and con- 
tracted; a remarkable quickness of hearing is a common 
symptom of this disease, as is also a great throbbing of the 
arteries in the neck and temples; a constant trembling, sup- 
pression of the urine, a total want of sleep, and a grinding of 
the teeth, which may be considered as a kind of convulsion. 

The Brain. 
Referring again to the anatomy, we find that the brain, 
the great dynamo which generates the forces that control 
the system, is contained in the cavity of the cranium, and, 



OSTEOPATHY. IO i 

to perform the varied tasks imposed upon it, must be bounti- 
fully supplied with arterial blood, which must circulate freely 
and return quickly to the heart through an unobstructed 
channel. The blood leaves the arch of the aorta through 
the innominate artery, and ascends obliquely to the upper' 
border of the right sternoclavicular articulation, where it 
divides into the right common carotid and right subclavian 
arteries, the latter supplying the right arm, while the com- 
mon carotid passes obliquely upward from behind the sterno- 
clavicular articulation to a level with the upper border of 
the thyroid cartilage, opposite the third cervical vertebra, 
where it divides into the external and internal carotid, whose 
branches, together with the vertebral artery, supply the 
brain. As these arteries and the corresponding veins must 
pass through a network of muscles to reach their destination, 
the great mystery is that we are ever free from headache 
caused by an obstruction to their free flow. 

Causes of Brain Fever. 

Brain fever, usually fatal when treated by the old 
methods, can be traced directly to a contraction of the mus- 
cles of the neck, obstructing the returning blood. With 
the heart still pumping the blood into the brain and the 
escape cut off, do you wonder at brain fever, or can you 
doubt for an instant that to remove the obstruction, allow- 
ing the pent-up venous blood to escape down its proper 
channel, would cure the disease? 

We have yet to find a case of brain fever that, if taken 
in any reasonable time, can not be instantly relieved, and 
in a comparatively short time cured, by our brain fever 
treatment. We trust that not only every person who reads 
these pages, but the medical fraternity in particular, will 
try this method, as, if it is generally adopted, it will save 
hundreds of lives annuallv. 



IQ 2 OSTEOPATHY. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place one hand under the chin, the other under 
the back of the head, and pull gently, rotating the head as 
far as possible from side to side, the object being to stretch 
all the muscles of the neck (see cut 4). 

2d. Pull gently on the head (being very careful not to 
rotate it) until sufficient strength is used to move the body. 

3d. With the fingers move all the flesh and muscles 
of the neck and throat, working gently but deep. 

4th. Raise the arm high above the head (see cut 14) 
with one hand, with the fingers of the other pressing hard 
between the spine and scapula (shoulder-blade), beginning 
at the upper border of the scapula. Lower the arm with a 
backward motion, and repeat, moving the fingers down one 
inch each time until the lower angle of the scapula is reached. 
Treat the other side in a similar manner. 

5th. Hold the vaso-motor center, one hand on each 
side of the neck, the fingers almost meeting close to the 
head (cut 5), and in five minutes your patient will be asleep 
and out of danger. In critical cases this treatment may be 
repeated as often as circumstances seem to require. Once 
in six hours is usually all that is necessary. The vaso-motor 
center may be held at any time, and always gives relief. 

Of the many cases treated by us, we will mention that of 
a gentleman of Baxter Springs, Kansas, who was delirious 
when we reached his bedside, and had been given up by the 
family physician. After a treatment that lasted not over 
ten minutes, his wife, bending over the couch, said to him: 
"Ben, how do you feel?" He replied: "Better, you bet!" 
turned over, and went to sleep for the first time in days. He 
improved rapidly, and in two weeks had entirely recovered. 

We are perfectly satisfied that brain fever, if treated 
in time by these never-failing principles, is no more to be 
dreaded than a bad cold. 




Cut 14. 



-8- 




Cut 15. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



HEADACHE. 



107 



Acting on these great principles, headache, not caused 
by fevers, the stomach, or the uterus, can be almost instantly 
cured by stretching the neck and a pressure on the nerves 
at the base of the occipital bone. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the right hand on the back of the patient's 
neck, the thumb on one side and the fingers on the other, 
close to the head; place the left hand on the forehead, tipping 
the head backward, gently, lifting quite strongly with the 
right arm, while rotating the head gently from side to side 
(see cut 15). 

2d. Standing in front of the patient and tilting the 
head backward, gently hold the vaso-motor center (cut 16). 

3d. Place one hand on the forehead, the otheri upon 
the back of the head, and press for a moment, hard. 

4th. Standing behind the patient, with one* hand on 
each side of the forehead, make five or six quick strokes. 

5th. Place one finger on each temple, and, while press- 
ing, gently move the fingers from right to left with a circular 
motion. 

6th. With the right hand raise patient's right arm high 
above the head, with the {humb of the left hand between 
the spine and the scapula, beginning at its upper angle, 
moving the muscles upward with a strong pressure at the 
same instant (see cut 14). 

This treatment will not occupy over ten minutes. First,* 
second, and third will cure any ordinary headache, and the 
entire treatment will cure any case of headache, no matter 
how severe, if not caused by fevers, the stomach, or the 
uterus, in from five to ten minutes. 

Of the scores of cases cured by us, we will mention the 



108 OSTEOPATHY. 

case of a lady of Seainmon, Kansas, who would have an 
attack of nervous headache once each week, lasting from 
two to four days; she suffered intense pain, the muscles 
contracting until they drew the head backward upon the 
neck. At these times electricity, hypodermic injections, and 
even chloroform, had failed to give relief. Being anxious 
to put our method to the severest test, we undertook her 
case, and w 7 ere even more successful than we had dared to 
hope. In ten minutes she was sleeping quietly, apparently 
free from pain. In the morning a second light treatment 
was given, which gave her complete relief, and the continua- 
tion of the treatments for one month effected a permanent 
cure. 

NEKVOUS HEADACHE. 

Treatment. 
In addition to our headache treatment, place the patient 
on the face, and with the thumbs, beginning at the neck, press 
gently the entire length of the dorsal vertebrae, after which, 
if the patient has retired, hold the vaso-motor center a 
moment (cut 5), and in a few minutes your patient will 
be asleep. 

SICK HEADACHE. 

Sick headache being caused by a reflex action of the 
pneumogastric and splanchnic nerves, the stomach is at fault; 
we must first reach that organ through the splanchnic nerves. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the back, and, reaching over 

as in cut 8, with the fingers pressing hard on each side of the 

spine, beginning between the lower angle of the scapula and 

ending as low as the last dorsal vertebra, lift the patient 




Cut 16. 



OSTEOPATHY. t j T 

gently with your fingers, then, moving down the breadth 
of the hands, repeat the application, thus desensitizing the 
splanchnic nerves. 

2d. Press gently at first, then gradually harder, over 
the pit of the stomach. 

3d. Give our regular headache treatment. It will take 
from ten to fifteen minutes to give this treatment, at which 
time the patient will be improving, although it may be 
some time before the pain entirely abates. 

A continuation of this treatment every second day will 
cure the most aggravated cases of chronic sick headache. 

Pain in the top of the head in women is always caused 
by female troubles, and will be discussed at length under 
that head. 

THE DIAPHRAGM. 

The diaphragm is the principal muscle of inspiration, 
placed obliquely at the junction of the upper with the middle 
third of the trunk, and separating the thorax from the abdo- 
men, forming the floor of the former cavity and the roof of 
the latter. When in a condition of rest, the muscle presents 
a domed surface with the concave toward the abdomen; when 
the fibers contract, they become less arched, or nearly 
straight, and in consequence the level of the chest wall is 
lowered, the vertical diameter of the chest being proportion- 
ally increased, thus permitting the lungs to fill with air; 
when, at the end of the inspiration, the diaphragm relaxes, 
the thoracic walls return to their natural position in con- 
sequence of their elastic reaction and of the elasticity and 
weight of the displaced viscera. In all expulsive acts the 
diaphragm is called into action ; thus before sneezing, cough- 
ing, laughing, crying, or vomiting a deep inspiration takes 
place. The phrenic nerve, which may be reached by a pres 



II2 OSTEOPATHY. 

sure in front of the third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebrae, 
controls the action of the diaphragm. Thus viewing that 
great muscle of inspiration as a machine, whose action is 
controlled by the brain through the phrenic nerve, w r e are 
enabled to instantly cure hiccough. 



HICCOUGH. 

Hiccough is a too rapid and spasmodic action of the 
diaphragm, arising from any cause that irritates its nervous 
fibers. 

Treatment 

1st. Stand behind the patient and with the fingers of 
each hand push the muscles at the side of the neck forward 
and press gently on the front of the tranverse processes of 
the third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebrae. 

2d. Place the knee between the patient's shoulders and 
raise the arms high above the head, lifting strongly (cut 2). 

This will instantly cure any case of hiccough not caused 
by approaching death. 

FEVERS. 

Fevers in any of their various forms can be greatly 
benefited and usually cured by an application of some or 
all of the following principles, as the case seems to require: 

1st. Should the patient be constipated, flush the bowels 
and give constipation treatment. 

2d. Should there be diarrhea, the bow T els should be 
checked as in flux. 

3d. Often a general treatment gives immediate relief. 

4th. When there is a pain in the head, the headache 
treatment should be always given. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



113 



5th. Always in fever hold the vasomotor center (cut 5) 
a few moments, as this never fails to reduce the fever and 
give immediate relief. 

While a general treatment should not be given oftener 
than once each day, the vaso-motor center may be held a few 
moments at any time. This part of the treatment should 
never be omitted, even if a physician is called, as it will in 
no way interfere with his medicine and gives more relief 
than all his drugs. 

HAY FEVER (SUMMER CATARRH). 

Symptoms. 
The symptoms are those of an ordinary catarrh, to 
which those of asthma are superadded. There is itching of 
the forehead, eyes, nose, and ears, much general irritability 
and lassitude, sneezing, profuse discharge from the nose, 
tightness of chest, difficult breathing and cough, pricking 
sensations in the throat, general depression, etc. 

Treatment. 
1st. General treatment of the neck. 
2d. Asthma treatment. 

Treatment should be given every other day for a few 
days, when the hay fever will entirely disappear. 

ACUTE RHEUMATISM, 

Symptoms. 

Acute rheumatism is usually ushered in with fever and 

inflammation about one or more of the larger joints, the 

shoulder, elbow, knee, or ankle usually being first affected. 

Exposed joints appear to be more prone to attacks than those 



II4 OSTEOPATHY. 

that are covered, the larger more frequently than the smaller, 
and the small joints of the hand more frequently than those 
of the feet. The affected joints are swollen, surrounded by 
a rose-colored blush, and acutely painful; the pain has many 
degrees of intensity, generally abates somewhat in the day, 
but is aggravated at night, and in all cases is increased by 
pressure, so that the touch of the nurse or weight of the 
bedclothes can scarcely be borne. 



CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 

This sometimes follows the acute form, at other times 
coming on quite independently of any previous attack. In 
time the affected limbs lose their power of motion and 
lameness results, the hip- and knee-joints being most often 
affected. Sometimes there is emaciation of the muscles, 
sometimes permanent contraction of a limb or bony stiffness 
of the joints. This form of the disease is the result of the 
uncured acute form; it may be limited to one part of the 
body or extend to several, and may be fixed or shifting. 

Cause of Rheumatism. 

Rheumatism in its varied forms yields readily to this 
method of treatment, and I think I am justified in saying 
that there never was and never will be a case of rheumatism 
that could not be benefited by this treatment, and perma- 
nently and quickly cured if taken in any reasonable time. 

Inflammatory rheumatism of the limbs is caused by a 
contraction of the muscles of the thigh, obstructing either 
the femoral, iliac, or long saphenous veins. As the waters 
of a river, if obstructed between high, strong banks, may not 
cause any particular trouble at that point, but will back 
up, flooding the lower country, so this river of blood, while 
causing no great inconvenience at the obstruction, backs up, 



OSTEOPATHY. II5 

distending the smaller veins and capillaries. The heart, 
still pumping, finally feels the pressure, and we have rheu- 
matism of the heart, while the stagnant blood soon becomes 
feverish, and we have inflammatory rheumatism, first below 
and finally above the obstruction. Laying aside all prejudice 
and skepticism, and looking at the matter from an unbiased 
and common-sense standpoint, would it not be as sensible 
to throw medicine into the river to remove the cause of a 
flood as to put it into the stomach to free the obstructed 
vein ? 

If we may be permitted to once more refer to the anat- 
omy, we will turn to the stomach and endeavor to follow a 
dose of medicine on its journey from the stomach to its 
destination at the femoral or saphenous vein, first asserting, 
however, that the same quantity of the same medicine never 
has the same effect twice on the same individual, from the 
fact that the stomach is never found twice in exactly the 
same condition, containing as it does different foods in 
different stages of digestion. Thus your doctor must begin 
by guessing what to give and how much to give, and con- 
tinue guessing until you accidentally stretch the contracted 
muscle and commence to recover,and then he guesses that his 
muscle did the work. There will be no guesswork, however, 
in tracing the medicine from the stomach and asserting 
w T hat portion (if any) reaches the affected part. Passing 
from the mouth through the oesophagus, it first reaches the 
cardiac end of the stomach. While in the mouth the gastric 
juice commences to flow, and is greatly increased by the time 
the drug gets to the stomach. Being kept in motion in a 
large quantity of liquid, in from fifteen to thirty minutes 
it reaches the pyloric orifice of the stomach and is emptied 
into the duodenum, where it is mixed with the pancreatic 
juice from the pancreas and the bile from the liver. As these 
juices, together with the gastric juice of the stomach, are 



H 6 OSTEOPATHY. 

capable of changing the entire character of almost any sub- 
stance on which they are allowed to act, it is not only 
possible, but probable, that they also change the character 
of the drug to a greater or less extent, thus adding to the 
system of guessing indulged in by the medical practitioner. 
The duodenum and upper portion of the small intestine are 
lined with a velvety substance, termed villi, which, immedi- 
ately upon the entrance of any substance into the intestine, 
passes all particles of richness through the walls of the 
intestine into the thoracic duct, permitting all refuse matter 
to pass on to the rectum. It is possible that here a goodly 
portion of the drug is refused by the villi, and is passed with 
the fa3ces; a portion, however, has reached the thoracic duct. 
The thoracic duct conveys the great mass of lymph and 
chyle into the blood. It varies in length from fifteen to 
eighteen inches in the adult, and extends from the second 
lumbar vertebra to the root of the neck; it commences in 
the abdomen by a triangular dilatation, the receptaculum 
chyli, which is situated upon the front of the body of the 
second lumbar vertebra, to the right side and behind the 
aorta, it ascends into the thorax through the aortic opening 
in the diaphragm, opposite the fourth dorsal vertebra; it 
inclines toward the left side and ascends behind the arch of 
the aorta to the left side of the oesophagus, and behind the 
first portion of the left subclavian artery to the upper orifice 
of the thorax, opposite the seventh cervical vertebra; it now 
curves outward and then downward over the subclavian 
artery, and terminates in the left subclavian vein. 

We will now follow what remains of our drug through 
the thoracic duct and into the subclavian vein in the neck, 
opposite the seventh cervical vertebra. It next passes into 
the innominate artery, which empties into the superior vena 
cava, through which it reaches the heart, and is immediately 



OSTEOPATHY. 



117 



pumped through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, from 
which it is conveyed through the pulmonary veins back to 
the heart, from where it is distributed equally to all parts 
of the system. How much (if any) ever reaches the con- 
tracted muscle it will indeed be difficult to determine. 

In discussing this subject we are reminded of the story 
of an Irishman with rheumatism; his physician wrote him 
a prescription and instructed him to rub it on. The Irish- 
man, in his ignorance, rubbed his leg with the paper, and he 
was immediately relieved; thus demonstrating that there is 
more virtue in the rubbing advised in the liniments than in 
the liniments themselves. 

Now, believing that our readers will understand our 
reasons for taking the position that man is a machine and 
should be treated accordingly, especially in rheumatic 
troubles, w T e will return to the treatment of this disease when 
located in the lower extremities. 



INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the back, and, grasping the 
ankle firmly with the right hand (should the right limb be 
affected), place the left on the knee and flex the limb slowly 
and gently as far as possible without too much suffering. 
Rotating it gently from right to left, extend the leg, and it 
will be found that it can be returned to its former position 
with apparent ease; bend it now another inch and straighten. 

2d. Place one hand on each side of the thigh, close to 
the body, and with a firm pressure move all the muscles from 
right to left and from left to right (see cut 13) the entire 
length of the limb, very gently at first, but stronger as the 
patient becomes used to the treatment. 



n8 OSTEOPATHY. 

3d. Grasping the foot, pull slowly, at the same time 
rotating the limb, using as much strength as the patient can 
stand. 

4th. Place the patient on the side, and, beginning at 
the first lumbar vertebra, with the fingers close to the spine, 
move the muscles upward and outward down as low as the 
lower border of the sacrum. 

This treatment should be given every other day, and, 
if care is taken, it need not be very painful, and will certainly 
cure the most acute case of inflammatory rheumatism in 
from two to six weeks. 

Of the numerous cases cured by us, we will mention 
that of a gentleman at Webb City, Missouri, who had been 
given up by the medical doctors and in whose case the rheu- 
matism not only extended the entire length of the spinal 
column and right limb, but was felt perceptibly in the heart. 
Ten days after the first treatment was given he walked 
without his crutches, and in six weeks resumed his usual 
vocation, entirely cured. 

Another gentleman of the same city, whose right limb 
was double its natural size from this disease, was cured in 
five days. 

Founded as it is upon common sense and scientific 
principles, this system of treatment, if properly administered, 
is absolutely infallible. 

RHEUMATISM IN THE ARMS. 

In this trouble we find the muscles of the shoulder at 
fault, obstructing either the brachial, axillary, or subclavian 
veins. 

Treatment. 

1st. Raise the arm as high and strongly as possible, 
but slowly, above the head. With the thumb of the disen- 




Cut 17. 



OSTEOPATHY. I2 i 

gaged hand (beginning at the upper border of the scapula) 
press upward on the muscles between the scapula and spine, 
while raising the arm (see cut 14). Lower the arm with a 
backward motion, move the thumb down an inch, and again 
raise the arm, repeating until the lower border of the scapula 
is reached. 

2d. Place one hand on the shoulder, pushing the muscles 
toward its point; with the other grasp the patient's elbow, 
and, while pressing hard with both hands, move the arm 
forward and upward around the head (cut 17). 

3d. Grasp the arm with one hand close to the shoulder; 
with the other hold the arm from turning and move the 
muscles from right to left and from left to right the entire 
length of the arm. 

4th. Stretch the arm, pulling slowly but very strongly. 

This treatment not only cures any form of rheumatism, 
but paralysis and various forms of blood disorders in that 
member. 



RHEUMATISM OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. 

When inflammatory rheumatism extends over the entire 
system, the spinal column as well as the extremities should 
be treated. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the patient on the side, and, using the arm 
as a lever (see cut 3), beginning with the fingers at the base 
of the neck, close to the spine, move the muscles upward and 
outward the entire length of the spinal column. 

2d. Place one hand under the chin, the other under 
the back of the head; have an assistant take the feet, and 
pull steadily as hard as the patient can stand. 



I2 2 OSTEOPATHY. 

It is indeed surprising how quickly a patient responds 
to this treatment. 



SCIATIC BHEUMATISM. 

Sciatic rheumatism may be caused either by a pressure 
on the nerve itself in or near the thigh, or in the spine at the 
origin of rhe nerves that form the sacral plexus, of which the 
great sacro-sciatic nerve is a continuation. 

Treatment. 

1st. Flex the leg (with one hand grasping the ankle, 
the other resting on the knee) as far as possible toward the 
chest, slowly but strongly (cut 6). 

2d. Extend the leg. turning the knee in, the foot out 
(cut 7). 

3d. With one hand on each side of the thigh, move all 
the muscles from right to left and vice versa,veTj deep (cut 13). 

4th. Place the patient on the side, and, beginning at 
the last dorsal vertebra, with the fingers close to the spine, 
move the muscles upward and outward from the spine to 
the end of the sacrum. 

This treatment will cure the most stubborn cases of 
sciatic rheumatism in from two to six weeks. 



LAME BACK. 

Lame back, which may be traced to many different 
causes, can be invariably cured by our method; acute cases 
instantly, and chronic cases of many years' standing by a 
continuation of the treatment. 

Treatment. 
1st. Place the patient on the side. and. using the limb 




Cut 18. 



OSTEOPATHY. I2 ^ 

as a lever (cut 18), with the fingers close to the spine, com- 
mencing a little above the last lumbar vertebra (small of 
the back), move the muscles up and out from the spine with 
each upward motion of the limb. 

2d. Extend the limb, move the hands down one inch, 
and repeat until the lower part of the sacrum is reached. 

3d. Place the patient on the back, and, grasping the 
ankle, flex one limb after the other as far as possible toward 
the chest, thus stretching the muscles of the back (cut 6). 

4th. Place the patient on the face, and, with thumbs 
on each side of the spine, beginning at the second lumbar 
vertebra, press rather hard, moving the muscles upward; 
move the thumbs down one inch, and repeat until you have 
reached the second sacral vertebra; being very careful to 
work thoroughly and deeply on each side of and a little below 
the last lumbar vertebra (cut 19), as it is here the trouble 
is usually found. 

Here also is found the seat of kidney disease and female 
troubles. It is noticeable in those cases that the patfent 
usually has a weak back, and it has been demonstrated 
beyond the shadow of a doubt that, working on these princi- 
ples, not only the back, but the accompanying disorders, can 
be entirely cured. 

Of the many cases of lame backs treated by us, we will 
mention that of a gentleman of Baxter Springs, Kansas. He 
was assisted into our office, and told how, ten years before, 
he was afflicted in a similar manner, being bedfast for six 
months and on crutches two years. We gave him a treaty 
ment, not occupying over two minutes and curing him 
instantly. 

We might also mention the case of a gentleman of 
Neutral, Kansas, cured by us in two weeks, after having 
been given up by the medical fraternity. 



I2 6 OSTEOPATHY. 

ECZEMA. 

Symptoms. 

Inflammation of the skin, more or less redness, and 
closely packed] vesicles, not larger than a pinhead, which 
run together, burst, and exude a starch-like fluid. This dis- 
ease usually appears on the scalp, behind the ears, on the 
face, forearm, or the legs. 

Eczema is caused by a contraction that holds the venous 
blood in the capillaries of any given part, thus causing a 
disease of the skin. It can be readily cured by kneading the 
flesh and stretching the muscles between the eruptions and 
the heart. 

Among the many cases of this trouble cured by us, we 
will mention a lady of Galena, Kansas. The eczema was 
rapidly advancing toward the body on the right limb, and 
all known methods had failed to give relief. By giving the 
treatment prescribed for inflammatory rheumatism, thus 
freeing the circulation of the blood, she was cured in one 
month. 

VARICOSE VEINS. 

Symptoms. 

The affected veins are dilated, tortuous, knotted, of a 
dull leaden or purplish blue color, with much discoloration 
of the parts and some swelling of the limb; if a great many 
small cutaneous veins are alone affected, they present the 
appearance of a close network; the enlarged veins and local 
swelling diminish after taking the horizontal position. 

Varicose veins are caused by a stoppage of the veins, 
usually by a pressure on the long saphenous or femoral vein, 
and can be readily cured by stretching the muscles of the 




Cut 19. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



129 



thigh and otherwise treating the limbs as in inflammatory 
rheumatism, being very careful in handling the flesh below 
the knee. 

We will mention our first case of varicose veins to prove 
to our readers how easily this disease may be cured by view- 
ing the human system as a machine and the arteries and 
veins as rivers of blood, easily obstructed. The veins of the 
right limb below the knee were almost bursting, while the 
dead, stagnant blood in the capillaries formed sores, on 
which scales formed, occasionally dropping off, exposing the 
raw, bleeding surface beneath. Every known method had 
been tried and failed during the ten years he had suffered 
with this apparently incurable disease. The long saphenous 
vein, which empties into the femoral vein in the thigh, and 
whose branches gather and return the venous blood from the 
lower part of the leg, gorged, knotted, and distended as large 
as the little finger, could be traced to the obstruction, a con- 
tracted muscle in the thigh. It almost seems incredible 
that, where its cause was so apparent, for years the medical 
fraternity would w r ork on the effect, encasing the limb in a 
rubber stocking to strengthen the bursting veins, while 
throwing medicine into the river above, with some object 
in view, unknown to the writer and possibly equally unknown 
to themselves. We gave the gentleman four treatments, 
stretching and freeing all the muscles of the thigh and start- 
ing the blood up the long saphenous vein. His limb immedi- 
ately became easier. At this time we were called to southern 
Kansas, and after a year, when we had almost forgotten 
the incident, we met our old friend in a small Missouri town, 
entirely recovered. 



130 OSTEOPATHY. 

THE THYROID GLAND. 

The thyroid gland bears much resemblance in structure 
to other glandular organs, and was formerly classified to- 
gether with the thymus, suprarenal capsules, and spleen, 
under the head of ductless glands, since, when fully 
developed, it has no excretory duct. The thyroid varies in 
weight from one to two ounces. It is larger in the female 
than in the male, and slightly increases in size during men- 
struation. It is situated at the upper part of the trachea, 
and consists of two lateral tubes, placed one on each side 
of that tube and connected by a narrow transverse portion, 
the isthmus. The arteries supplying the thyroid are the 
superior and inferior thyroid, and sometimes a branch from 
the innominate artery or arch of the aorta. The arteries are 
remarkable for their large size and frequent anastomosis; 
the veins form a plexus on the surface of the gland and on 
the front of the trachea, from which rise the superior, middle, 
and inferior thyroid veins. The two former terminate in 
the internal jugular, the latter in the innominate vein. 



GOITRE. 

Symptoms. 

The thyroid gland is subject to enlargement, which is 
called goitre. For the relief of these growths various opera- 
tions have been resorted to, such as the injection of tincture 
of iodine or perchloride of iron, ligature of the thymus, and 
extirpation of a part or the whole of the thyroid gland. The 
thyroid gland having an unusually large blood-supply, it is 
but reasonable to suppose that an obstruction to its veins 
would necessitate an enlargement of the gland, or goitre. It 
is equally reasonable that if the obstruction is removed, the 




Cut 20. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



133 



goitre will soon be taken up by absorption and disappear. 
Acting on these principles, we have cured hundreds of 
goitres. It will be observed that the clavicle (collar-bone) 
is not nearly as prominent in people troubled with goitre as 
in those not afflicted) with this disease. The contracting 
muscles and depressed clavicle, which are obstructing the 
escape of the blood from the thyroid gland, cause goitre. 
Raising the clavicle and stretching these muscles cures 
goitre, thus proving our theory to be correct. 

Treatment. 

1st. Stand behind the patient, and, extending the left 
arm around the neck, place the left thumb under the right 
clavicle (collar-bone) at about its middle; grasp the patient's 
right wrist with the disengaged hand, raise the arm slowly 
above the head, and lower with a backward motion, at the 
same time springing the clavicle up with the thumb of the 
left hand"; raise the left clavicle in like manner (cut 20). 

2d. Place the patient on the back, with one hand under 
the chin, the other under the back of the head; pull gently, 
rotating the head in any direction that will best stretch the 
muscles in the front and sides of the neck (cut 4). 

3d. Place the fingers below the goitre, pulling it upward 
and kneading it gently. 

This method will cure in from two to six weeks any 
goitre on which iodine has not been freely used. Treatment 
should be given every other day, and will not occupy over 
five minutes' time. 

FLESHY TUMORS. 

Fleshy tumors, like goitre, are caused by an obstruction 
to the veins draining any given part, and are easily cured 
by stretching and moving all the flesh and muscles in the 



I34 OSTEOPATHY. 

immediate vicinity, and kneading and moving the tumor in 
all directions. 



DISEASES OF THE HEAD. 

Granulated eyelids, dripping eyes, inflammation of the 
eyes, catarrh, polypus of the nose, catarrhal deafness and 
roaring in the head, enlarged tonsils, mumps, erysipelas of 
the face, and many other diseases of the head, are caused 
by a contracted condition of the muscles of the neck, 
obstructing the flow of the venous blood on its return journey 
to the heart. The circulation being thus interrupted, disease 
at the weakest point is the result. To remove the cause by 
a general treatment of the neck is but the work of a moment, 
and never fails to effect a cure. 

General Treatment of the Neck. 

1st. Place the patient on the back, with one hand under 
the chin and the other under the back of the head ; pull gently, 
rotating the head in all directions, slowly but strongly, 
endeavoring to stretch all muscles of the neck (see cut 4). 

2d. Pull slowly on the head until the body moves. 

3d. Draw the patient's arms slowly but very strongly 
high above the head. 



GRANULATED EYELIDS. 

Symptoms. 
In this affection the conjunctival membrane, or wiiite 
of the eye, is raised into little projections,presenting a rough, 
irregular appearance. It is a consequence of long-continued 
or maltreated inflammation, and if not cured, it may in time 
occasion opacities of the cornea by the irritation it causes, 
followed by blindness. 



-p 




Cut 21. 



OSTEOPATHY. 137 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Standing at the head of the table, with the index 
finger work gently, but as deeply as possible, moving the 
muscles and pressing under the edge of the bone entirely 
around the eye (cut 21) ; this frees the circulation and gives 
immediate relief. 

3d. Pinch the eyelid gently wherever granules are 
formed, thus starting a natural circulation. 

We have never known this method to fail, even in the 
worst cases. One old gentleman at Lewiston, Missouri, 
was cured by me in this manner, after suffering fifty years, 
in two months' time. The usual time required for an ordinary 
case is from two to four weeks. Treatment should be given 
every other day. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 

Symptoms. 

Inflammation of the eyes often comes on with a sensation 
as if sand had got into the eyes. In some instances this 
complaint proceeds no farther, but gradually goes; but at 
other times it is followed by heat, redness, and prickling, 
with darting pains. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. With the index finger work gently but firmly under 
the edge of the bone surrounding the eye, thus freeing all 
ducts and glands, and also starting the circulation (cut 21). 

3d. Place the fingers on the patient's temples, and, with 
a circular motion, move all the muscles as deeply as possible. 

Treatment should be given once each day. This will 

—10- 



138 



OSTEOPATHY. 



2ure the most aggravated case of inflammation of the eyes 
in a few days. 

DRIPPING EYES. 

Dripping eyes are usually accompanied with a catarrhal 
difficulty in the lachrymal duct, which conveys all watery 
substances from the eye to the interior of the nose. Its 
obstruction causes the overflow at the eye; we must there- 
fore cure the catarrh, and the eyes will take care of 
themselves. 

Treatment. 

1st. Give the general treatment for the neck. 

2d. Free all the muscles around the eyes as in inflam- 
mation and granulation of the eyes (cut 21). 

3d. Beginning deep in the corner of the eye, with the 
thumb on one side of the nose, the index finger on the other, 
move the flesh and muscles upward and downward its entire 
length. 

This treatment is infallible, cases of twenty years' stand- 
ing having been cured by us in one month's time. Treatment 
should be given every other day. 

CATARRH. 

Symptoms. 

This disease sometimes prevails epidemically, and it is 
to this form medical writers apply the term "influenza,"while 
cases that occur incidentally are called catarrh, or cold. 
When it prevails epidemically, it undoubtedly depends upon 
the state of the atmosphere, though in some cases it has been 
attributed to contagion. 

In general, it comes on with a dull pain or sense of weight 



OSTEOPATHY. 1 39 

in the forehead, sometimes preceded by a slight chill, red- 
ness of the eyes, and fullness and heat in the nostrils, 
which is soon followed by a discharge of thin acrid fluid from 
the nose, together with soreness in the windpipe, hoarse- 
ness, frequent sneezing, dry cough, loss of apppetite, and 
general lassitude; towards evening the pulse becomes con- 
siderably quickened and a slight fever arises. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Beginning deep in the corner of the eyes, move 
the muscles upward and downward, with as hard a pressure 
as patient can stand, the entire length of the nose. 

3d. Placing one hand on the back of the head, the other 
on the forehead, press very hard, moving the muscles of the 
forehead in all directions, especially those immediately over 
the eyes. 

Treat each day for one week, when th6 patient will be 
on a fair way to recovery; one month's treatment will cure 
the most stubborn case. 

CATARRHAL DEAFNESS AND ROARING IN THE 

HEAD. 

Catarrhal deafness can be always benefited, and usually 
cured, by the catarrh treatment, after which the patient 
should endeavor to breathe while holding the nose and 
mouth, thus springing the drums of the ear and starting the 
circulation. 

POLYPUS IN THE NOSE. 

Symptoms. 
When the polypus is located in the nose, there is a nasal 
sound in the voice, the patient acquires the habit of keeping 



I4 . OSTEOPATHY. 

his mouth open to facilitate breathing, there is difficulty 
of swallowing liquids, the nose is enlarged externally on the 
affected side, and on looking up the nostril the polypus may 
be seen. In consequence of the stuffy symptoms which a 
polypus occasions, it may at first be mistaken for a cold in 
the head; but, on the nose being violently blown, the polypus 
descends and appears near the orifice, causing the obstruc- 
tion to return, contrary to the usual result of such an 
operation. 

Treatment. 

General treatment of the neck and other catarrhal treat- 
ment once each day. A cure is guaranteed. 



MUMPS. 

Symptoms. 

At first there is a feeling of stiffness and soreness on 
moving the jaw, and the child complains of discomfiture on 
eating; indeed, the pain caused by eating, or even drinking, 
is sometimes agonizing. The glands under the ear soon 
begin to swell, and they continue to be sore and painful, 
with more or less fever and headache, for about a week. 
There is little danger, although there are instances in which, 
from exposure to cold or from cold applications, the disease 
has been transmitted to the testicles in boys and to the 
breasts of girls. 

Treatment. 

General and very thorough treatment of the neck once 
each day. Instant relief and a cure are guaranteed. 



OSTEOPATHY. 141 

ENLARGEMENT OF THE TONSILS. 

Enlargement of the tonsils may be of two kinds: 

1. The common abscess, occurring in inflammatory sore 
throat. 

2. Chronic swelling, generally the consequence of 
previous inflammation of the gland in a scrofulousi person. 
They often become so large as to impede both respiration 
and swallowing. 

Treatment. 
General treatment of the neck once each day. A cure 
is guaranteed. 



ERYSIPELAS IN THE FACE. 

Symptoms. 

Erysipelas is known by a spreading, inflammatory red- 
ness of the skin, with considerable puffy swelling, tenderness, 
burning, painful tingling, and tensions. The color varies 
from a faint red to a dark red or purplish color, becoming 
white under pressure, but resuming its former color at the 
removal of the pressure. An attack is usually ushered in 
with shivering, languor, headache, nausea, bilious vomiting, 
and the ordinary symptoms of inflammatory fever, ac- 
companied or followed by inflammation of the part affected. 
When erysipelas attackstheface,it nearly always commences 
at the side of the nose or near the angle of the eye. 

Treatment. 

General and very thorough treatment of the neck. In- 
stant relief and a cure are guaranteed. 



I42 OSTEOPATHY. 



WHOOPING-COUGH. 



Symptoms. 

The cough is accompanied by a shrill, reiterated whoop; 
vomiting is also a frequent incident. It is contagious under 
certain circumstances, which are not well understood. The 
disease comes on with the usual symptoms of catarrh. The 
whoop or sonorous spasm is frequently violent, the face 
becoming turgid and purple from suffusion and the eyeballs 
swollen and prominent. The paroxysms at first recur several 
times during the day, are most violent toward evening, and 
least so during the night. After the disease has continued 
some time, they return only in the morning and evening; and 
at the end of the disease, in the evening only. The violence 
of the«disease varies from the slightest indisposition, without 
feverishness, to the severest spasmodic agitation, attended 
with high and dangerous fever. In duration it varies from 
one week to one year, the usual period ranging from three 
weeks to three months, 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Place the patient on the back, and, one operator 
grasping each wrist, raise the hands high above the head, at 
the same time placing the fingers of the disengaged hand 
between the patient's shoulders, close to the spine, at the 
upper border of the scapula, and pressing hard as the arms 
are drawn slowly up; lower the arms with a backward mo- 
tion; move the fingers one inch down the spine, and repeat 
until the lower border of the scapula is reached (cut 1). 

Treat each day until the disease is cured. 



OSTEOPATHY. j^ 



PNEUMONIA. 



Symptoms. 

Pneumonia generally comes on insidiously, with rest- 
lessness and feverish disturbance, and sometimes has made 
great progress before the true character of the disease has 
been discovered. There is a deep-seated, dull pain beneath 
the breast-bone or shoulder-blade; a great feeling of illness; 
frequent short cough, with expectoration of viscid matter of 
a green, yellow, or pale color, sometimes tinged with blood, 
which forms such tenacious masses that! inversion of the 
vessel containing them will not detach them. Profuse green 
expectoration is !a serious symptom. The breathing is 
hurried and difficult, the skin hot, especially in the regions 
of the armpits and ribs; there is no moisture in the nostrils, 
and there exists great thirst. If the disease is unchecked, 
the face often exhibits patches of redness and lividity and 
the blood-vessels of the neck become swollen and turgid. 
The patient may sink either from exhaustion or obstruction 
of the lungs. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Place the knee between the shoulders and raise the 
arms slowly, gently, but very strongly, high above the head, 
lowering them with a backward motion (cut 2). 

Treat every few hours as the case may seem to require. 
Instant relief will be the result of this treatment, and in a few 
days a complete cure. We have taken numerous cases in 
their last stages, and never failed to be rewarded with the 
most gratifying results. 



I44 OSTEOPATHY. 



NEUKALGIA. 

Symptoms. 

This is a disease of the nervous system, and the 
symptoms consist of severe paroxysms of pain, of a purely 
nervous character. The pain is generally very severe and 
more or less darting, sometimes burning, tearing, aching, 
and beating. In some cases it causes the patient to start 
suddenly, and spasmodic twitchings of the muscles are not 
uncommon. Sometimes there is tenderness of the part on 
pressure, especially on slight pressure, while hard pressure 
affords partial relief. 

This disease is not confined to any particular part of the 
body. When it is in the nerves of the jaws and teeth, it 
causes one of the most distressing and unendurable forms 
of toothache. The eyes, temples, heart, spine, and stomach 
are not unfrequently attacked, and it frequently shifts from 
one to the other. 

Treatment. 

Neuralgia of any part should be treated in a similar 
manner to rheumatism of that part. If in the face, a general 
treatment of the neck should be given (page 134). A general 
treatment is often beneficial. 

This disease is very stubborn, and while we have cured 
a great many cases instantly, in others we have been 
entirely baffled. 

SAINT VITUS'S DANCE. 

This is a disease characterized by convulsive movements 
of the limbs, occasioning ludicrous gesticulations, and arising 
from involuntary action of the muscles. It has been wit- 
tily termed "insanity of the voluntary muscles." This dis- 



OSTEOPATHY. 



H5 



ease is caused by a pressure at some point along the spinal 
column upon the cerebrospinal cord, and can be either cured 
or greatly benefited by this method of treatment. 

Treatment. 

1st. Give general treatment of the spine (cut 3, page 33). 

2d. Place one hand under the back of the head, the 
other under the chin, and pull slowly, the patient relaxing 
all his muscles until the body moves on the table. 

3d. While pulling gently, rotate the head from side to 
side (cut 4). 

4th. Treat the extremities as in rheumatism. 

Treatment should be given every other day. 

FISTULA. 

Fistula usually commences with swelling near the rec- 
tum, attended with great pain, hardness, and acute inflamma- 
tion; the tumor advances slowly to suppuration, and matter 
is formed. 

In some cases, however, the disease proceeds till an 
opening is formed, with very little pain — so much so, that 
the patient is ignorant of the time when it formed; but more 
generally the pain is very severe, swelling great, and sup- 
puration very extensive, and, in consequence of the pressure 
upon the neck of the bladder or urethra, there is a suppression 
of urine. 

Fistula may be caused either by a fall or riding a spirited 
horse, bruising and possibly dislocating the coccyx, or "tail- 
bone," as it is usually called, causing a pressure on the veins 
which return the blood from these parts. 

Treatment. 
1st. Place the patient on the side, and, using the limb 
as a lever (cut 18), with the hands, beginning at the second 



146 



OSTEOPATHY. 



lumbar vertebra, move the muscles upward and outward 
from the spine with each upward motion of the limb, work- 
ing down with the hands as low as the coccyx, very 
thoroughly. 

2d. Flex the limbs strongly against the chest. 

3d. Pass the index finger up the rectum and move the 
coccyx a little each treatment to its normal position. 

This treatment will cure the worst case of fistula in from 
two to six weeks. 



PILES. 

A sensation of heat, fullness, and perhaps itching, is 
felt about the anus; the swelling increases until small tumors 
form, which are sore and painful ; these may be external and 
visible or internal, and are often of a bluish color, and, when 
inflamed, they are very sore and painful to the touch. There 
is frequently a discharge of blood, especially from internal 
piles, and such discharges often return repeatedly until a 
habit is established, and there is a feeling of fullness before 
and relief after such discharges. 

Piles that do not bleed are called Mind; this variety is 
apt to take on inflammation, when they become full, appear 
ready to burst, and are so very sensitive the patient can 
neither sit, lie down, nor walk. 

Piles are really a varicose condition of the rectum, and 
are usually the result of an obstruction of the hemorrhoidal 
veins. 

Treatment. 

1st. Piles are often caused by constipation, and in such 
cases our constipation treatment (page 69) will usually effect 
a cure. 



OSTEOPATHY. 



147 



2d. Place the patient on the face, and, with a thumb 
on each side of the spine, beginning at the first sacral ver- 
tebra, move the muscles very deeply upward and outward 
from the spine, working down to the end of the coccyx. 

3d. If the patient has itching or bleeding piles, pass 
the index finger its entire length up the rectum, very care- 
fully moving the inner muscles from side to side, thus freeing 
the circulation. In protuding piles they should be replaced, 
and the same internal treatment given. 

There is no danger in this treatment, and we have never 
known it to fail to effect a cure in from two to six weeks. The 
internal treatment, which is rather painful, should be given 
but once a week, and always after flushing the bowels. Most 
cases of piles can be cured simply by our constipation treat- 
ment which removes the usual cause of this distressing 
complaint. 

Of the many aggravated cases cured by us, we will men- 
tion the case of a gentleman of Scammon, Kansas, whose 
piles protruded an inch and had not been replaced for 
twenty years. We took the case as an experiment, hardly 
hoping to effect a cure. In three weeks our patient) was 
entirely well, and up to the present time has had no return 

of his old trouble. 

# 

ABSCESSES. 

Symptoms. 
Abscesses first appear as a hot, hard swelling, accom- 
panied by a burning, dull, throbbing sensation; as the swell- 
ing gradually increases the skin covering it assumes a pur- 
ple or brownish red tint, and in a few days softens and sup- 
puration takes place at several points; the matter is a thin, 
watery, and scanty discharge, but, if pressure be applied, a 
thick, glutinous fluid may be squeezed out. 



I4 8 OSTEOPATHY. 

Treatment. 

1st. Move the flesh, and muscles very deeply in all 
directions for some distance around the abscess. 

2d. Move the abscess from side to side, pressing and 
rubbing it gently. 

Any abscess can be cured in this manner in a very few 
days, and the pain instantly relieved. 

COLD, HOT, OK ACHING FEET AND MILK LEG. 

These troubles are caused by a contraction of the mus- 
cles, usually in the thigh in cold extremities, obstructing the 
free How of arterial blood, while in the latter troubles it is 
the returning blood which is obstructed; in either case the 
heart, pumping the blood steadily against the obstruction, 
is at a disadvantage, and soon heart disease is the result. 
J*y using the leg as a lever, moving and stretching the mus- 
cles in all possible directions, we remove the cause, and an 
immediate cure is the result. 

Treatment. 
The same as in inflammatory rheumatism (page 117). 

BACKACHE. 

Treatment. 

Place the patient on the side, and, beginning at the first 
lumbar vertebra, with the fingers close to the spine, with a 
steady pressure move the muscles upward and outward with 
a circular motion, moving the fingers down one inch after 
each upward motion until the lower part of the sacrum is 
reached; treat the other side in a similar manner. 

Instant relief is always the result of this treatment, and, 
if continued a few days, a permanent cure. Treatment 
should be given each day. 



OSTEOPATHY. I49 



BILIOUSNESS. 

Symptoms, 

There is more or less fullness and sensation of a load or 
other symptoms of uneasiness in the region of the stomach; 
there is languor, dull headache, or sleepiness, and sometimes 
slight yellowishness of the eyes and skin. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the spine (page 32). 

2d. Place the knee between the shoulders on the fourth 
dorsal vertebra, and, while pressing hard, raise the arms 
slowly but very strongly high above the head, lowering them 
with a backward motion (cut 2). 

The most stubborn case can be cured in this manner in 
from two to six weeks, treatment to be given every other 
day. 



BALDNESS. 

Baldness is caused by an obstruction in the cutaneous 
circulation, and can be prevented by our method of 
treatment. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck (page 131). 

2d. Move the scalp in all directions, working it as loose 
as possible, once each day, thus freeing the blood-supply. 

It is indeed surprising how soon this treatment will 
check the falling" out of the hair and promote a renewed 
growth. 



I5 OSTEOPATHY. 



CANKER OF THE MOUTH. 

Symptoms. 

This disease is characterized by the membrane covering 
the sides of the tongue and inside of the cheeks becoming red 
and inflamed, and afterwards covered with large ulcers. 
The tongue becomes swollen, there is a profuse secretion of 
saliva, the breath is offensive, and swallowing is difficult. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Place the finger in the mouth and gently move the 
inflamed swollen surface as deeply as possible in all direc- 
tions, rubbing the ulcers gently. 

This treatment starts the circulation, gives immediate 
relief, and in a few days a complete cure. Treatment is to 
be given once each dav. 



CRICK IN THE NECK. 

This is a form of rheumatism caused by a cold draught 
striking the neck. The muscles of that side of the neck con- 
tract, causing difficulty in moving the head. This can be in- 
stantly cured by a thorough general treatment of the neck. 



EARACHE. 

Symptoms. 

An excessive throbbing pain in the ear. The more vio- 
lent forms of this disease are attended with excruciating, 
throbbing pains, delirium, and sometimes convulsions. 



OSTEOPATHY. I5I 



Treatment. 



1st. General treatment of the neck. 

2d. Place the finger in the ear and move the muscles as 
deeply as possible. 

3d. Place the lips close to the ear and blow gently, but 
very hard. 

4th. Move all the muscles deeply immediately around 
the ear. 

Instant relief is usually the result; in very stubborn 
cases several treatments may be necessary. 



PIMPLES. 

Pimples are caused by an obstruction to the cutaneous 
veins, and are easily cured by a general treatment of the neck 
(page 134). 

DIZZINESS. 

Symptoms. 
The patient is suddenly seized with a sense of swimming 
in the head; everything appears to him to turn around; he 
staggers, and is in danger of falling. This complaint is at- 
tended with very little danger when it arises from hysterics 
or any nervous disorder, but when it arises from an un- 
natural quantity of blood in the head, there is danger of 
apoplexy. This complaint often proceeds from difficult or 
obstructed menstruation. 

Treatment. 
This disease can be cured in from two to six weeks by 
our general treatment (page 93), which will remove the cause 
and permit a natural flow of all the fluids of the body. 



I5 2 OSTEOPATHY, 



FITS AND CONVULSIONS. 



While fits and convulsions can be instantly relieved by 
a genral treatment of the neck (page 134) and spine (page 32), 
as a rule, they are A r ery stubborn, not over 50 per cent being 
cured by our method, and those cases only after long-con- 
tinued treatment, to be given every other day. 

HOARSENESS. 

A general treatment of the neck once or twice each day 
will cure this trouble in a very short time. 

CHRONIC GOUT. 

This is a persistent constitutional affection, character- 
ized by stiffness and swelling of various joints, with depos- 
its of urate of soda. 

Symptoms. 
The deposits in the joints constitute the distinguishing 
feature. Chronic stiffness and swelling of various joints, 
with pain, are considered as cases of chronic rheumatism or 
gout. 

Treatment. 

1st. Treat the limbs as in inflammatory rheumatism 
every other day. 

A continuation of this treatment will be of vast benefit 
to the patient, even though it may not effect a complete cure. 

HIP DISEASE (WHITE SWELLING). 

This is a very painful disease, and is usually seated on 
some of the joints of the body, principally the hip, knee, 
ankle, and elbow. The skin remains white 5 even in great 



OSTEOPATHY. 153 

inflammation. Sometimes the disease is rather mild in its 
character, at others very painful ; the seat of the pain is in the 
periosteum, or covering of the bone, which in most cases be- 
comes diseased and scales off. 

t Symptoms. 

In the commencement there is a very severe pain felt deep 
in the joint, and when the person moves, the pain becomes 
intolerable; as it progresses, there is swelling, but no red- 
ness — a shining whiteness, with hardness or callous; it 
slowly increases until the swelling is very great; there is a 
discharge of matter; the limb wastes, becomes bent, and> 
when in the hip, osseous matter fills up the joint and slowly 
dislocates the head of the bone, either causing permanent dis- 
location or stiffness in the process of time; there are gener- 
ally small pieces of bone detached; the patient is very thin, 
with much constitutional disturbance, hectic fever, etc. 

Treatment. 

This disease, if taken in a reasonable time, can be cured 
in a few treatments. 

1st. Move the joint in all directions as strongly as the 
patient can stand. 

2d. With the hands move all the flesh and muscles very 
deeply for some distance around the joint, thus freeing the 
circulation and permitting Nature to act. 

After dislocation takes place, the treatment will loosen 
the joint and render the limb much more useful. 

CRAMP IN THE LEGS. 
Symptoms, 

Sudden contraction of the muscles of the calf of the leg, 
frequently the result of indigestion. 

—11- 



154 



OSTEOPATHY. 



Treatment. 



1st. Flex the limb strongly against the chest (cut 6), 
extending it with a light jerk. 

2d. Move all the muscles of the leg very deeply from 
right to left and left to right, beginning at the thigh. 

This treatment will give instant relief, and a few treat- 
ments will effect a permanent cure. 

COLIC. 

Symptoms. 
Severe twisting, griping pain in the abdomen, chiefly 
around the navel, relieved by pressure, so that the patient 
doubles himself up, lies on his stomach, or rolls on the floor, 
writhing in agony. The bowels are usually constipated, but 
there is a frequent desire to relieve them, although little is 
passed but wind; there is no fever, nor is the pulse even 
quickened unless after a time it becomes so from anxiety. 
The paroxysms of pain are owing to the efforts of the bowels 
above to force downwards the mass of accumulated gas or 
feces, while the lower portion is contracted. Colic is some- 
times mistaken for inflammation of the bowels, but may be 
distinguished by the fact that in colic there is no fever, and 
in inflammation the fever is high and there is great accelera- 
tion of the pulse. 

Treatment. 

1st. Place the knee in the back at the twelfth dorsal 
vertebra, and raise the arms high above the head, lifting 
strongly while pressing hard with the knee. 

2d. Bend the patient backward over the knee. 

3d. Place patient on the back and knead the bowels as 
in constipation (page 70), 

This treatment will usually give instant relief. 



OSTEOPATHY. 155 

FAINTING. 

Fainting is a loss of volition and muscular power with 
complete or partial loss of consciousness, due to defective 
nervous power. It has various causes: debility from consti- 
tutional tendencies, or from loss of blood or other animal 
fluids; emotional disturbances, fright, sudden joy or grief, 
hysteria, etc. Many persons faint on seeing blood or a 
wound. 

Treatment. 

1st. General treatment of the neck (page 134). 
2d. General treatment of the spine (page 32). 



THE UTERUS. 

That our readers may gain a more correct understanding 
of our method of treating diseases peculiar to women, it will 
be necessary to refer once more to the anatomy. 

The uterus is the organ of gestation, receiving the 
fecundated ovum in its cavity, retaining and supporting it 
during the development of the foetus, and becoming the 
principal agent in its expulsion at the time of parturition. 
In the virgin state it is pear-shaped, flattened from before 
backward, and situated in the cavity of the pelvis between 
the bladder and rectum; it is retained in its position by the 
round and broad ligament on each side and projecting into 
the vagina below. Its upper end, or base, is directed upward 
and forward; its lower end, or apex, downward and back- 
ward in line of the axis of the inlet of the pelvis. The uterus 
measures about three inches in length, two in breadth at its 
upper part, and nearly an inch in thickness, and weighs from 
an ounce to an ounce and one-half. 

The size, weight, and location of the uterus varies at 



156 



OSTEOPATHY. 



different periods of life and under different circumstances. 
In the foetus the uterus is contained in the abdominal cavity, 
projecting beyond the brim of the pelvis. At puberty the 
uterus is pyriform in shape, and weighs from eight to ten 
drams; it has descended into the pelvis, the fundus being 
just below the level of the brim of this cavity. During men- 
struation the organ is enlarged and more vascular, its sur- 
faces rounder, and the lining membrane of the body thicker, 
softer, and of a darker color. During pregnancy the uterus 
becomes enormously enlarged, and in the ninth month 
reaches the epigastric region. After parturition the uterus 
regains nearly its natural position and size, weighing about 
an ounce and a half. 

THE FALLOPIAN TUBES. 

The Fallopian tubes, or oviducts, convey the ova from 
the ovaries to the cavity of the uterus; they are two in num- 
ber, one on each side, situated in the upper margin of the 
broad ligament, extending from each superior angle of the 
uterus to the sides of the pelvis; each tube is about four 
inches in length. The general direction of the Fallopian 
tubes is outward, backward, and downward. The uterine 
opening is minute, and will only admit a fine bristle; the ab- 
dominal opening is comparatively much larger. 

THE OVARIES. 

The ovaries are oval-shaped bodies, flattened from above 
downward, situated one on each side of the uterus in the 
posterior part of the broad ligament, behind and below the 
Fallopian tubes. Each ovary is connected by its anterior 
straight margin to the broad ligament, by its inner extremity 
to the uterus by a proper ligament, the ligament of the ovary, 



OSTEOPATHY. ! S 7 

and by its outer end to the fimbriated extremity of the 
Fallopian tube. The ovaries are each about an inch and a 
half in length, three-quarters of an inch in width, and about 
a third of an inch in thickness. The uterus being suspended 
by muscles and ligaments in the cavity of the pelvis, and 
being subject to so many and such radical changes, it is in 
no way surprising that ulceration, polypus, cancer, and 
prolapse of the uterus are so very prevalent. 



DISPLACEMENTS OF THE UTERUS. 

The true pathology or proximate condition of these 
affections is but little understood by the medical profession, 
as is apparent from the general ill success attending the ordi- 
nary treatment. The term prolapsus is used indiscriminately 
for all degrees of simple descent or falling of the womb; but 
some books use the term relaxation when the descent is only 
to the middle of the vagina, procidentia when the uterus 
descends to the labia, and prolapsus when it protrudes exter- 
nally. Retroversion is that form of displacement in which 
the fundus uteri descends toward the sacrum, the os uteri, 
or mouth of the womb, inclining towards the pubes. Antever- 
sion is the reverse of the preceding, the fundus falling for- 
ward and the os uteri inclining backward. In inversion the 
organ is turned inside out while in a state of prolapse. In 
some cases the upper part of the vagina protrudes into the 
lower, constituting what is called prolapse of the vagina. 

Symptoms. 
Prolapse of the uterus is attended with a heavy, dis- 
agreeable, or painful dragging-down sensation at the lower 
part of the abdomen, aching or weakness about the small of 
the back, and, when severe, great difficulty or inability in 
walking. At first there is increased 'mucous (secretion, 



I 5 8 OSTEOPATHY. 

which increases by degrees until it acquires the character 
of an obstinate leueorrkea. 

When the uterus is retroverted, the bowels are irregular 
or constipated, and from the pressure of the displaced organ 
in the rectum behind and urethra in front there is more or 
less difficulty experienced in expelling the contents of the 
bowels and bladder. In this situation the womb often be- 
comes congested. inflammatory, and enlarged, and every 
attempt at walking is exceedingly painful and exhausting. 
In bad cases the patient can only endure a fixed, motionless 
position in her chair or bed. There is, too, usually consider- 
able tenderness and tension of the whole abdomen. 

Anteversion is a less frequent occurrence; it is denoted 
by difficulty in walking, sense of weight or fullness in the 
pelvis, with many of the symptoms of prolapse, and is at- 
tended with much less difficulty in evacuating urine and 
faeces than retroversion. 

Inversion is known by the organ hanging down exter- 
nally; it is usually the result of violence in extracting the 
placenta, but may occur from an adhesion of the placenta 
or from polypous tumors. In some instances the falling of 
the uterus or vagina drags along the bladder with it, consti- 
tuting what is called complicated prolapse. In this case the 
bladder, being deprived of the expulsory aid of the abdom- 
inal muscles, is incapable of evacuating its contents without 
artificial assistance. 

Genital excrescence consists in polypus or other tumors 
issuing from the surface of the uterus or vagina; they are of 
all sizes and various degrees of consistency, from the soft- 
ness of the sponge to the firmness of leather. 

Special Causes. 
Although medical authors and professors of midwifery 
are continually talking about "relaxation of ligaments/' 



OSTEOPATHY. ! 59 

which hold the uterus in position, as the main cause of its 
displacement, it is quite clear that this relaxation has noth- 
ing whatever to do with it; the yielding or elongation of the 
ligament itself being an effect of the displacement. The nat- 
ural supports of the uterus are the vagina and abdominal 
muscles; if the former is greatly relaxed, the uterus will 
descend, and the ligaments, being kept constantly on the 
stretch, will finally elongate more or less; and if the abdom- 
inal muscles are greatly debilitated, they do not contract 
vigorously, so as to keep up equable and uniform compres- 
sion in all the various positions of the body, and hence the 
uterus is liable to fall forward or backward, or to incline 
laterally; and wiien both are badly relaxed and debilitated, 
we find both conditions of displacement — falling down and 
tipping transversely across the pelvis. 

In corroboration of this view of the subject, we may 
advert to the fact that all the cases of uterine displacement 
met with in our practice, with the single and rare exception 
of such as are produced by violence, occur in females who 
suffer from the very circumstances which are most efficient 
in inducing muscular relaxation of these parts, as constipa- 
tion, piles, dyspepsia, nervous debility, mis-menstruation, 
abortions or miscarriages, preternatural labors, etc. 

It is a well-known fact that all cases of female troubles 
are accompanied by a weak, lame back, and it is to this point 
we trace the real cause of most cases of falling of the womb 
and other troubles peculiar to women. Either by an acci- 
dent or overwork, the muscles of the back, from the first 
lumbar vertebra to the last sacral, have become strained, 
causing contraction and a consequent pressure on the nerves 
which control the organs of generation, thus breaking the 
nervous current from the brain to these parts, interfering 
with the circulation and permitting the muscles which hold 



!6o OSTEOPATHY. 

the organs of generation in place to relax. The fact that our 
treatment gives not only instant relief in most cases, but a 
permanent cure in all, if continued from three to six weeks, 
is ample proof that in female complaints, as well as in all 
other troubles to which it has been applied, the never-failing 
principles of Osteopathy are as superior to the old methods 
of healing as electricity is superior to the tallow candle 

Treatment. 

1st. If the patient is constipated, flush the bowels and 
give constipation treatment (page 69). 

2d. Place the patient on the side; beginning at the 
first lumbar vertebra, with the lingers close to the spine, 
move the muscles gently but very deeply upward and out- 
ward from the spine, as low as the last sacral vertebra, being 
very thorough. In the sacral region move all the muscles 
upward very deeply, for about two inches, on each side of 
the spine, as it is here we strike foramina (openings in the 
bone) that transmit nerves directly to the organs in question. 

3d. Insert the finger and move the womb gently to its 
normal position. 

The local treatment is seldom if ever necessary. We 
have noticed, in our extensive practice, that while adjusting 
the uterus gave temporary relief, cases in which no local 
treatment was given recoverd as rapidly, thus proving that 
to free and stretch the muscles of the back, removing all pres- 
sure from the nerves, enabling them to regain control of the 
parts in question, would cause the muscles attached to the 
uterus to contract and draw that organ to its proper position. 
Immediately after the first treatment, the back will feel 
easier, and in a few weeks at most a complete and permanent 
cure will be effected. We take great pleasure in recom- 
mending this treatment to the public, it is so easily adminis- 
tered and so infallible. 




Cut 22. 



OSTEOPATHY. 163 

SUPPRESSED MENSTRUATION. 

Suppressed menstruation is attended with headache, 
difficult breathing, and palpitation; also languor and many 
dyspeptic symptoms, particularly a capricious appetite, and 
not infrequently a longing for innutrient and injurious sub- 
stances, as clay, slate-stone, charcoal, etc. In many cases 
there is an harassing cough and symptoms of a general 
decline. 

Treatment 

1st. Place the patient on the face, and, with the thumbs 
on each side of the spine, beginning at the first lumbar verte- 
bra, move the muscles very deeply upward and outward from 
the spine as low as the last sacral vertebra (cut 19). 

2d. Place the fingers close to the spine, and, with a 
steady pressure, draw the hands outward and upward on each 
side from the first lumbar vertebra to the sacrum (see cut 22). 

3d. Place one thumb on each side of the spine, begin- 
ning at the second lumbar vertebra, and, while pressing hard, 
have an assistant move the limbs gently to the left, raising 
them as high as the patient can bear and returning them to 
their former position] with a circular motion. Move the 
thumbs down one inch and repeat until the second sacral 
vertebra is reached (cut 23). Care should be taken to move 
the limbs slowly and to raise them only as high as the pa- 
tient can readily bear. J 

This treatment in these cases is infallible. In ordinary 
cases two or three treatments will effect a cure; but one 
stubborn case in our experience, that of a young lady who 
had been sufferng for two years, toolTthree months. 



164 



OSTEOPATHY. 



LEUCORRHEA. 



Symptoms. 
Generally there is a profuse mucous discharge from the 
utero-vaginal lining membrane of a white, cream, yellow, or 
greenish color, thin and watery or of the consistency of 
starch or gelatine, and it may be inodorous or fetid. When 
the discharge proceeds from the vagina, it is generally a 
light, creamy-looking fluid; in ulceration of the mouth of the 
womb it is profuse and semipurulent. In severe cases the 
whole system becomes injuriously affected; the face is pale 
or sallow, the functions of digestion are impaired, there are 
dull pains in the loins and abdomen, cold extremities, palpi- 
tation and difficult breathing after exertion, debility and loss 
of energy, and partial or entire suppression of the menstrual 
flow. 

Treatment. 
A thorough general treatment every other day, being- 
very thorough in the lumbar region, will cure any case of this 
disease. 

CHANGE OF LIFE. 

Symptoms. 

Y\liile the change is in progress there is commonly more 
or less functional disturbance of the general health, the nerv- 
ous system especially manifesting various changes, such as 
vertigo, syncope, headache, flushes of heat, urinary troubles, 
pains in the back extending down the thighs with creeping- 
sensations, heat in the lower part of the abdomen, occa- 
sional swelling of the lower extremities, itching of the pri- 
vate parts, mental irritability and restlessness, culminating 
seriously sometimes, especially in patients of a decided nerv- 




Cut 23. 



OSTEOPATHY. ^ 

ous character. Sometimes menstruation ceases abruptly. 
The monthly period may be arrested by cold, fright, or some 
illness; earlier in life the suppression would have been fol- 
lowed by a return of menstruation after removal of the 
cause, but now Nature adopts this opportunity to terminate 
the function. Gradual termination is, however, more fre- 
quent and is attended with less disturbance of health. In 
gradual extinction one period is missed and then there is a 
return, a longer time elapses and there is an excessive flow; 
this continues for a time, the returns being fewer and farther 
apart, until they cease altogether. 

At this critical period there is not infrequently an 
enlargement of the abdomen, which, though it may occur ear- 
lier in life, is due to causes peculiar to this. 

Treatment. 

A general treatment every other day will equalize the 
circulation and give wonderful relief (page 93). 



GATHERED BREASTS. 

Symptoms. 

When inflammation occurs in the tissues behind the 
breast and on which it is placed, the pain is severe, throbbing, 
deep-seated, and increased by moving the arm and shoulder; 
the breast becomes swollen, red, and more prominent, 
being pushed forward by the abscess behind. Sometimes, 
but less frequently, the breast itself is involved, when the 
pain becomes very acute and cutting, the swelling very con- 
siderable, and there is much constitutional disturbance — 
quick, full pulse, hot skin, thirst, headache, sleeplessness, 
etc. This variety of gathered breasts is preceded by rigors 
(shivering fits), followed by heat. 



1 68 OSTEOPATHY. 

Treatment 

1st. Raise the arms high above the head, with the knee 
between the shoulders, lowering the arms with a backward 
motion. 

2d. Moye all the muscles near the breasts very deeply. 

3d. Move the breasts gently in all directions, raising 
them up and endeavoring to free all the glands, muscles, 
and circulation. 

Treat every few hours. Immediate relief, and a cure in 
a very short time, will be the result. 



OBSTETRICS. 

In all cases of obstetrics, except those in which through 
some malformation it becomes necessary to use instruments 
in effecting the delivery, Osteopathy is indeed a grand suc- 
cess, diminishing the hours of labor at least three-fourths 
and reducing the suffering of the patient in a most remark- 
able manner. 

Treatment. 

1st. During the first stage of labor, with a finger on 
either side of the clitoris, press gently but rather hard; this 
pressure will cause a painless and complete dilatation of the 
cervix in a comparatively short time. Eemove the fingers 
for an instant, and the patient screams with pain; resume 
the pressure, and instant relief is the result. 

2d. In the second stage, as soon as the bearing-down 
pains begin, press gently but rather hard from the second 
to the last lumbar vertebra, on each side of the spine. As long 
as the pressure is continued, your patient will suffer no pain; 
remove your hands for an instant, and she cries: "Oh, Doc- 
tor! my back! my back!" It seems that a pressure at the 



OSTEOPATHY. T 6 9 

points in question must, in some remarkable manner, break 
the nervous current between the brain and the muscles that 
are resisting the delivery of the foetus, thus depriving them of 
their power of contraction and permitting the almost unob- 
structed and painless delivery of the child. 

3d. During the interval of rest between the birth of the 
child and the delivery of the placenta flex the limb upon the 
chest, and, while an assistant presses hard on the great 
trochanter, extend the leg, abducting the knee and adduct- 
ing the foot as much as possible; it will take but a moment 
and remove the cause of the numerous aches and pains in the 
hips and limbs, often the result of confinement. 

If the physician or midwife in attendance will adopt 
this method as an accessory to their usual treatment, they 
will be surprised and gratified at the results. 



THE SKELETON. 

The entire skeleton in the adult consist of 200 bones. 

The vertebrae are 33 in number, and are called cervical, 
dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal, according to the posi- 
tion which they occupy; 7 being found in the cervical region, 
12 in the dorsal, 5 in the lumbar, 5 in the sacral, and 4 in the 
coccygeal. The average length of the spine is about 2 feet 
and 2 or 3 inches; of this length the cervical part measures 
about 5, the dorsal 11, the lumbar about 7 inches, and the 
sacrum and coccyx the remainder. 

The bones of the cranium are 8 in number, while those 
of the face number 14. 

The os hyoides, sternum, and ribs, 26. 

The upper extremities, 64. 

The lower extremities, 62. 

The bones of the upper extremities consist of the clavi- 



I70 OSTEOPATHY. 

cle, or collar-bone; the scapula, or shoulder-blade; the 
humerus, the longest and largest bone of the upper extrem- 
ities; the ulna, so called from its forming the elbow; the 
radius, lying side by side with the ulna; 8 carpal or wrist 
bones, 5 metacarpal or bones of the palm, and the 14 bones 
of the phalanges or fingers. 

The bones of the lower extremities consist of the os in- 
nominatum, so called from its bearing no resemblance to any 
known object, which, with its fellow, forms the sides and an- 
terior wall of the pelvis (in the young it consists of three sepa- 
ratebones, and although in the adult they havebecome united, 
it is usually described as the ilqum, ischium, and os pubes) ; 
the femur, or thigh-bone, the largest, longest, and strongest 
bone in the body; the patella, in front of the knee-joint; the 
tibia, the fibula, 7 tarsal and 5 metatarsal bones, and 14 
phalanges. 













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